4 Cubs who drastically exceeded expectations in 2024

The fact that Jed Hoyer's two biggest offseason additions from a year ago will appear on this list and the Chicago Cubs still missed the postseason, going 83-79 and finishing 10 games behind Milwaukee in the division, says a lot about the state of this roster heading into the winter.

The takeaway from Jed Hoyer's end-of-season presser is that the team will continue to hope for players to outperform projections next year, a questionable strategy, to say the least. But several players did just that in 2024, turning heads in the best of ways.

Here are 4 Cubs players who drastically exceeded expectations this season.

1. Shota Imanaga looks like the free-agent steal of last winter after a stellar rookie campaign

Last winter, it was all eyes on Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Ohtani, who was finally set to escape the doldrums of the Angels organization, had his eyes set on a record-setting contract. Yamamoto, a 25-year-old hurler from Japan, was hyped as the best pitcher to come out of the NPB in years.

Both wound up signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers, with the two contracts totaling a staggering $1.025 billion. That's a level the Cubs have never - and likely will never - play at, but they somewhat quietly locked up the second-best pitcher making the jump from Japan, Shota Imanaga, a move that now looks like a stroke of genius.

Imanaga, who will receive down-ballot support for NL Rookie of the Year, won 15 games, pitching to a 2.91 ERA in 173 1/3 innings. He led the league with a 6.21 strikeout-to-walk ratio and earned an All-Star selection in his first big-league campaign. Frankly, he kept this team afloat all year long - with the Cubs going 23-6 in his starts. Without him, a season that ended in disappointment could have been far, far worse.

3: Rookie right-hander Porter Hodge came out of nowhere to be a shutdown late-inning reliever

Chicago Cubs rookie Porter Hodge made his big-league debut in late May and never looked back.

He has barely a dozen relief appearances at Triple-A under his belt, but that didn't matter for the young right-hander, who joined the relief mix and later took over ninth-inning duties late in the year following the downfalls of both Adbert Alzolay and Hector Neris.

Hodge made 39 appearances on the year, working to a 1.88 ERA with a 31.7 percent strikeout rate. You have to be careful betting too heavily on him heading into 2025 given a brutal 11.6 percent walk rate that's the reddest of red flags out there, but he overcame that by limiting contact (.179 xBA).

His sweeper was particularly effective, with opponents batting just .070 against the pitch and slugging only .105. Along with Tyson Miller and Jorge Lopez, Hodge helped stabilize a bullpen that really struggled early on in the season but wound up being one of the Cubs' biggest strengths down the stretch.

4: Nate Pearson proved to be a big trade deadline acquisition, living up to his potential in the Cubs bullpen

Hoyer was clear that the moves he made at this year's trade deadline were focused on 2025 and beyond. The pick-ups of Isaac Paredes and Nate Pearson fit the bill, with both players under team control for several more years.

The expectations were, at least initially, higher for Paredes - but it was Pearson who really turned some heads. He appeared to work out some of the control issues that had plagued him since the Blue Jays drafted him in the first round back in 2017, cutting his walk rate to 1.4 BB/9, well below his career mark of 4.1 BB/9.

He brought some much-needed firepower to the Cubs pen, averaging just under 98 MPH on his fastball, placing him in the 96th percentile. In 19 appearances following the trade, Pearson worked to a 2.73 ERA and 0.987 WHIP - and he heads into the offseason with a chance to really solidify himself as a key member of this pitching staff next year.