Chicago Cubs: Seeing how former players fared this postseason

A lot of mixed emotions were felt by Chicago Cubs fans this October seeing their former heroes play for a championship in another uniform. 2021 was the first time in the careers of Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber and Jorge Soler in which they played postseason baseball in non-Cubs uniforms.

Outside of Javier Baez, the departed core members of the 2016 Cubs were at least part of a postseason-bound team in 2021. Five key 2016 players (Rizzo, Bryant, Schwarber, Soler, Tommy LaStella) got postseason playing time, while the likes of Jon Lester and Aroldis Chapman were on postseason teams but did not play. Other key former Cubs (not on the World Series team) including Joc Pederson, Craig Kimbrel and Ryan Tepera played in the postseason this year as well.

It is also worth noting that former Cubs manager Dusty Baker (2003-2006) managed the American League champion Houston Astros – once again falling short in his longstanding quest to win a World Series.

So how did all these guys fare under the lights of October in 2021? We break it down here.

Chicago Cubs: “Bryzzo” had a chance to win another ring in new uniforms

Anthony Rizzo (Yankees)

.250/.250/1.000 with one home run, one RBI in one game.

Rizzo faced off against Kyle Schwarber’s Red Sox in the AL Wild Card game at Fenway Park. His one postseason hit was a solo home run to right off Nathan Eovaldi in the top of the sixth. He was 1-for-4 with two strikeouts as the Yankees fell to Boston 6-2. Rizzo entered the Wild Card game hitting just .069 in his final three postseason rounds (2017 NLCS, 2018 WC game, 2020 WC series) with the Cubs.

Kris Bryant (Giants)

.472/.500/.647 with one home run, two RBI in five games.

Bryant’s Giants fell just short in five games against the defending champion Dodgers in the NLDS. The former NL MVP had himself a very nice series, racking up eight hits in 17 at-bats. His home run came in Game 1 off Walker Buehler in a 4-0 Giants win. Despite the Giants falling in the decisive game 2-1, Bryant had a solid night going 2-for-4 with two singles. He was entering this year’s NLDS on a 1-for-14 postseason slump dating back to the 2018 NL Wild Card game.

Tommy LaStella (Giants)

.333/.455/.333 with two walks and a run scored

Easy to forget “3 AM” was also part of the Giants’ division-winning team. LaStella appeared in all five games and collected three singles in nine at-bats. He started four of the five games he played in. It is worth noting that he has 11 career postseason hits with the Giants and Oakland Athletics and none with the Cubs (0-1for-3), but he was a big bench bat for the Cubs in the regular season from 2015-2018.

Chicago Cubs: Notable former Cubs hurlers appeared on the South Side

Craig Kimbrel (White Sox)

9.00 ERA, 2.000 WHIP,  2.0 innings

The Kimbrel trade did not work out for the White Sox in 2021. After pitching to a microscopic 0.49 ERA and 64 innings in 36 2/3 innings with the Cubs, he went to the South Side and struggled in both the regular season and postseason. He got rocked in Game 2 of the ALDS in Houston, including giving up a home run. He pitched a scoreless third of an inning in the Sox Game 3 win and gave up an unearned run in Game 4.

Ryan Tepera (White Sox)

1.93 ERA, 0.429 WHIP, three strikeouts in 4.2 innings

While Tepera’s postseason was mainly remembered for his comments regarding the Astros and cheating suspicions, he had a nice performance on the mound. He appeared in three games and only gave up one run and two hits. Tepera ended up pitching more innings than any other pitcher on the entire White Sox roster in the ALDS.

Jesse Chavez (Braves)

0.00 ERA, 3.96 FIP, two strikeouts in 6.1 innings

He was not a Cub for long, but he was a huge part of the bullpen in the final months of 2018. The veteran Chavez wins his first ring at age 38 as he made one start and came out of the pen in six other games. His one start was a one inning “bullpen day” opener in Game 4 of the NLCS. Chavez did not give up any runs in the postseason.

Congrats to these former Cubs in making the postseason, honestly. It was cool to see some of the former guys getting another chance at glory even if it was not on the North Side. Hopefully next year there will be actual Cubs playing in October.