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

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.