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Cubs’ rotation nearly perfect top to bottom
- Updated: August 10, 2016
CHICAGO — Facing a fifth starter is a good thing, right?
Maybe not when you’re going against the Cubs.
Jason Hammel, who is in his second season as a back-of-the-rotation guy at Wrigley Field, starts against the Angels on Wednesday night. He’s got a 3.07 ERA, including a 1.50 mark in four starts since the All-Star break.
Mike Scioscia, the Angels’ manager, can think of starters he’d rather face. Entire pitching staffs, for that matter.
The Angels lost to Jake Arrieta and the Cubs on Opening Day, and then Jon Lester in the second game of the season. Scioscia has had to use 12 different starting pitchers since then, and here are the Cubs with the same five starters heading toward mid-August.
“They’ve been doing the job start after start for a long time,” Scioscia said. “Seems like they maintained their health, their stuff. From when we’ve seen from them, Opening Day ’til now, there’s been very little attrition with their stuff. It hasn’t eroded. They’re throwing the ball with the same stuff we saw in the spring. That’s unusual.”
After trading for Aroldis Chapman two weeks ago, Theo Epstein cited the health and production of the rotation as a motivating factor that eased his angst over parting with top prospect Gleyber Torres. He acknowledged the opportunity to reach the World Series for the first time since 1945 and perhaps to end a championship drought that dates to 1908.
It seems like all the Cubs have done since adding Chapman is win. Their 5-1 victory behind John Lackey on Tuesday night gives them an 11-2 record with the overpowering closer in uniform.
The key to the recent success — really, the biggest key to the success since Opening Day — is the consistently effective work by Arrieta, Lester, Lackey, Hammel and Kyle Hendricks.
Arrieta and Hendricks are in the top five in the National League in earned run average. Lester, Lackey and Hammel all rank within the top 21, contributing to an overall ERA of 2.93 for the rotation, best in the Major Leagues.
Arrieta’s domination of hitters was the Cubs’ calling …
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