5 best single season performances by Chicago Cubs relievers in last decade

The Chicago Cubs have a pattern of bringing in veteran relievers on short-term deals. More recently, the team has used these players to flip at the trade deadline, with prominent examples being David Robertson, Andrew Chafin, and Chris Martin. However, there was a time when the Cubs actually held on to their good relievers, and a few of them hurled many solid innings out of the bullpen. Here are five guys who had outstanding seasons pitching in relief for the Cubs.

5. Carl Edwards Jr. 2017

One of the few relievers the Cubs actually developed into a viable weapon recently is Carl Edwards Jr. Although they didn't draft Edwards, as he was acquired via a trade with Texas alongside Justin Grimm in 2013, the Cubs organization is where the majority of his minor league innings took place. He even made it to the majors in time to help with the 2016 World Series winning campaign. But 2017 was arguably Edwards' best year representing the North side of Chicago. He appeared in 73 games and pitched to a 2.98 ERA with an exceptional 12.75 strikeouts per nine innings. He also held hitters to just a .134 batting average.

Unfortunately, inconsistent production and injuries resulted in the likable right hander being shipped to the Padres in 2019. He did have a bounce back season with Washington last year, but I will always remember him frolicking with a W flag after the World Series.

4. Travis Wood 2016

Wood arguably had the best full season out of any Cubs reliever in 2016. Although he had an incredible year as a starter in 2013, Wood was converted into a reliever after the additions of Jon Lester and John Lackey, and he took the assignment and ran with it. A 2.95 ERA in 61 innings of work is not too shabby, especially for a lefty coming out of the pen. His reliability got him the call in plenty of tough situations, including in the postseason. Most notably was after Kyle Hendricks took a comebacker off his forearm against the Giants in game 2 of the NLDS, and Wood came in to not only pitch shutout ball but crank a solo homer to put the Cubs up 5-2.

2. Steve Cishek 2018

There was a time when it was almost automatic that Joe Maddon was bringing Steve Cishek to relieve one of his starters. In fact, the three seasons where Maddon was Cishek's manager were the three heaviest workloads of his career. 2018 was the by far his best year from a production standpoint, as the right-handed sinkerballer pitched to a stellar 2.18 ERA with 25 holds and a career-high 78 strikeouts in 70 innings. Another sub-three ERA season in 2019 capped off Cishek's Cubs tenure. This man simply got outs in a Cubs uniform.

1. Hector Rondon 2015

The 2015 campaign marked a return to competition for the Chicago Cubs, and one of their big contributors that season was their underrated closer Hector Rondon. Over 70 innings pitched that year, Rondon put up a phenomenal ERA of 1.67, which ranked 5th among all qualified relievers that year. He also locked down 30 saves while striking out 69 with a minute WHIP of 1.00 to boot. He had many big appearances that season, perhaps none more electric than setting down Stephen Piscotty to send the Cubs to the NLCS.

Although the Cubs eventually traded for the flame-throwing Aroldis Chapman in 2016, Rondon played a pivotal role in the Cubs bullpen for half a decade.