{"id":66378,"date":"2024-02-07T08:00:04","date_gmt":"2024-02-07T13:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=66378"},"modified":"2024-02-06T15:43:49","modified_gmt":"2024-02-06T20:43:49","slug":"chicago-cubs-starting-rotation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/02\/07\/chicago-cubs-starting-rotation\/","title":{"rendered":"Comparing the Chicago Cubs Starting Rotation to the other NL Central Teams"},"content":{"rendered":"

With an influx of young talent and the signing of a key free agent, do the Chicago Cubs have the best starting rotation in the division?<\/p>\n

Although many Cubs fans have opposed\u00a0the pace of signings this Winter, there is optimism regarding their starting rotation.\u00a0 With the signing of Shota Imanaga, the Cubs may be six-strong<\/a> regarding possible starters as they enter spring training.\u00a0 Justin Steele is coming off a Cy Young top-five performance.\u00a0 James Taillon is working to build off a solid second half of 2023.\u00a0 Shota Imanaga may prove to be a key signing, especially in the second half of the season.\u00a0 Kyle Kendricks is still reliable, especially as a third or fourth starter.\u00a0 Jordan Wicks and Javier Assad have experience and will battle for the final spot in the rotation.<\/p>\n

At the very least, it is a solid rotation and could prove to be the best in the division depending on injuries and performance. Let\u2019s look and see what their divisional rivals<\/a> are rolling out for their staffs:<\/p>\n

Chicago Cubs Starting Rotation Against Their Division Rivals<\/h2>\n

Cincinnati Reds<\/h3>\n

Projected rotation: Hunter Greene, Graham Ashcraft, Frankie Montas, Andrew Abbott, Nick Lodolo<\/em><\/p>\n

There is a ton of youth in this group, with most under 26.\u00a0 However, unproven arms also led to a collective WAR last season that ranked 25th<\/sup> in MLB.\u00a0 As a staff, the Reds gave up the third most home runs per 9 innings and had the fifth-fewest shutouts by their starters.\u00a0 With trades by other competitors, the Reds could challenge for the division because of the depth of this group.<\/p>\n

Milwaukee Brewers<\/h3>\n

Projected rotation: Freddy Peralta, Wade Miley, Jakob Junis, Colin Rea, Robert Gasser<\/em><\/p>\n

The Brewers had the league’s best ERA last season and the second-best WHIP.\u00a0 However, with the departures of Corbin Burnes and Brandon Woodruff, this staff has been deeply depleted by losing their top two arms.\u00a0 Peralta and Miley have had good seasons and could boost the rotation with strong seasons.\u00a0 Junis, who was acquired just this week<\/a>, is in a one-year deal that the Brewers are hoping to parlay into a sold season.<\/p>\n

St. Louis Cardinals<\/h3>\n

Projected rotation: Sonny Gray, Miles Mikolas, Kyle Gibson, Lance Lynn, Steven Matz<\/em><\/p>\n

There are a lot of \u201cwhat-ifs\u201d for the Cardinals.\u00a0 If each of these starters can match their best year or potential, this staff has a chance to be the best in the division.\u00a0 However, counting on that to happen might be a stretch.\u00a0 It seems weird to think the Cardinals could spend another October at home, but that could be the case unless this staff surprises.\u00a0 Anything might be an improvement over the third-worst WAR for starting pitchers and bottom fourth for ERA last season.<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh Pirates<\/h3>\n

Projected rotation: Mitch Keller, Mart\u00edn P\u00e9rez, Marco Gonzales, Luis Ortiz, Quinn Priester<\/em><\/p>\n

As is the case nearly every season, the Pirates hope for development out of young draft picks and veterans to help show the way.\u00a0 Ortiz and Priester are unproven, so it may be too much to ask.\u00a0 The loss of JT Brubaker and Johan Oviedo to Tommy John surgery is a tough blow to this team.\u00a0 With the third youngest pitching staff in the majors, help is coming.\u00a0 Their farm system is good, but it may be a few years away from adding to the major league club.\u00a0 The sooner, the better, considering the Pirates had a -2.1 WAR for starting pitchers last season.<\/p>\n

So, Where Does This Leave the Cubs?<\/h3>\n

Unlike in other divisions, no clear-cut candidate for the best rotation exists.\u00a0 Suppose the Cubs were in the N.L. West, they would be lucky to be third.\u00a0 However, in the National League Central, this staff should be the best of the group.\u00a0 As long as there is no severe drop-off from their starters, it should be enough to complement the offense.\u00a0 Some starters like Jordan Montgomery and Blake Snell\u00a0are still available on the free-agent market.\u00a0 However, their asking price will probably push them out of the Cubs future given the ballclub is still looking for more offense.\u00a0 If that\u2019s the case, this group should still challenge to be the best in the division.<\/p>\n

Main Photo Credits: Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With an influx of young talent and the signing of a key free agent, do the Chicago Cubs have the best starting rotation in the division? Although many Cubs fans have opposed\u00a0the pace of signings this Winter, there is optimism regarding their starting rotation.\u00a0 With the signing of Shota Imanaga, the Cubs may be six-strong […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4995,"featured_media":66171,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[24,1071],"tags":[68,124,507,231,168],"class_list":["post-66378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cubs","category-mlb","tag-baseball","tag-cincinnati-reds","tag-milwaukee-brewers","tag-pittsburgh-pirates","tag-st-louis-cardinals"],"modified_by":"Evan Mazza, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4995"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66378"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66378\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}