Cubs pitching by the numbers
A key stat for each hurler and unlike the hitters, some of these are good!


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Yesterday, I spelunked the recesses of Baseball Reference to find an alarming stat for each of the Cubs “hitters.”

Today, let’s do the same for the pitchers, a few of whom have actually been really good.
Shōta Imanaga - Two
What is there to not like about Shōta? He’s 5-0, his ERA is a ludicrous 0.84, he’s struck out 58 guys in just 53 innings against just nine walks and only 40 hits. He’s been amazing. In his five April starts the Cubs averaged nearly six runs for him. In his four May starts they have scored a TOTAL of six runs. He has four no-decisions and in those four games he’s allowed TWO runs! Not an average of two. Two! Total! What the fuck, Cubs?
Javier Assad - 2, 4
Our other favorite pitcher has been nearly as good as Shōta. He’s allowed just 14 earned runs in 11 starts. Last year Javier allowed just 18 earned runs in ten starts. Over those two seasons he’s posted a 2.59 ERA as a starter.
So, what’s not to like? Well, on Sunday night he allowed two two-run homers to the desiccated corpse of Paul Goldschmidt. In 196 other at bats this year Goldschmidt has just five homers and 18 RBI.
Jameson Taillon - Three
Taillon is off to a much better start to this season than the disastrous one he had last year. But one thing remains consistent. He doesn’t beat teams with winning records. Last year in 29 starts he only beat two teams with a record above .500, and those two teams (Reds and Padres) combined to finish four games over for the season. So far this year he’s won three games but only one is against a team currently over .500 (May 4 v. the Brewers.) That’s three wins over winning teams in 36 Cubs starts.
Justin Steele - 4.5%