According to a Tweet from Codify baseball, the last time a Chicago Cubs starter struck out 13 batters in a game was nearly four years ago.
Days since one of their pitchers struck out 13+ in a game:
β Codify (@CodifyBaseball) July 15, 2023
0 MIL π₯π₯π₯
22 MIA
26 CWS
38 TOR
61 PIT
72 LAA
81 ATL
98 MIN
295 ARI
296 CLE
296 SD
299 NYM
310 NYY
376 HOU
457 LAD
722 OAK
776 PHI
780 TB
797 WSH
1,083 CIN
1,396 CHC
1,436 BOS
1,471 DET
1,539 TEX
1,779 COL
1,848 STL⦠https://t.co/Qr9AzAiTwx
The game in question was a contest on September 17th at Wrigley Field against the Cincinnati Reds, where former Cub starter Yu Darvish took the mound.
The hard-throwing right-hander went seven innings that day where he surrendered 6 hits and four earned runs in addition to setting down 13 Reds via strikeout. This was one of six starts by Darvish where he reached double digits in the strikeout category that year.
Since Darvish was traded to the San Diego Padres in December of 2020, the Cubs have not had a high velocity power pitcher on their starting rotation.
Justin Steele, Marcus Stroman, and Kyle Hendricks do well as soft-tossers when there is a good defense surrounding them, but it wouldn't hurt if the Cubs had an upper 90s high strikeout guy.
Top prospect Ben Brown is the closest thing the Cubs have to that type of starting pitcher, but his path to the big leagues could see him transition to the bullpen. Cade Horton is another candidate and his bread and butter is the strikeout, but he is likely still a couple of years away from Wrigley.