Now that the NLDS is over and we have some time to kill before the NLCS, let’s take a statistical look back at some of the individual performances in the regular season, and see who led the Cubs in the most meaningful/fun categories. Below, I’ve separated the starting pitchers from the relievers, to make the counting categories more fair, but let’s start with the offense.
Chicago Cubs Position Players
Note: I have limited this category to Cubs players with greater than 100 PAs in 2015. While even that cutoff won’t necessarily yield a significant sample size for several guys, it’s the minimum amount of appearances I could use to include enough players, while at least trying to get a reasonably sized sample. The cutoff, for what it’s worth, brings us down to 12 Cubs.
Counting Stats:
Anthony Rizzo is the Cubs’ leader in plate appearances in 2015, stepping up to the plate 701 times throughout the season. Dexter Fowler (690) and Kris Bryant (650) are just behind him.
And with his 701 Plate Appearances, Anthony Rizzo did some damage, hitting a team leading 31 home runs. Once again Kris Bryant (26) and Dexter Fowler (17) follow behind the Cubs’ slugging first baseman. Six other Cubs did manage to reach double digit homeruns in 2015.
Turning towards hits, the trio remains, as Anthony Rizzo (163), Kris Bryant (154) and Dexter Fowler (149) are the 2015 Cub leaders. Interestingly, Starlin Castro (145) was next, just behind Fowler.
Doubles are no different, as Anthony Rizzo (38) led the team, with Kris Bryant (31), Dexter Fowler (29) and Addison Russell (29) a good deal behind.
Not until triples, do we see Rizzo step out of the top three, as Dexter Fowler (8) led the pack, with Chris Coghlan (6) and Kris Bryant (5) just behind.
Dexter Fowler (84), Anthony Rizzo (78) and Kris Bryant (77) led the team in walks, and were a good deal ahead of Chris Coghlan (58) who was fourth on the team.
Kris Bryant (199) lapped the team in strikeouts, as Dexter Fowler (154) and Addison Russell (149) were the closest two players behind him.
Anthony Rizzo was hit by a pitch 475 times in 2015. (Okay, it was actually just 30, but that leads the majors by 11 and was far more than anyone else on the team).
Dexter Fowler (20) led the team in stolen bases, with Anthony Rizzo (17) and Kris Bryant (13) not far behind.
Rate Stats
Anthony Rizzo (.278) led the Cubs in average, with Kris Bryant (.275) and Chris Denorfia (.269) following not far behind. Starlin Castro (.265) and Jorge Soler (.262) just missed the top three.
Anthony Rizzo (.387) led the Cubs in OBP, with Kris Bryant (.369) and Kyle Schwarber (.355) also posting exceedingly impressive on-base rates for rookies (or anyone, really).
Anthony Rizzo (.512) led the team in slugging, with Kris Bryant (.488) and Kyle Schwarber (.487) coming in second and third once again. How impressive have those two kids been?
In fact, Kyle Schwarber (.241) led the team in ISO, with Anthony Rizzo (.234) and Kris Bryant (.213) both posting .200+ rates, just behind.
David Ross leads a category, but unfortunately, it’s strikeout rate. The Cubs veteran catcher struck out 33.5% of the time, with Kris Bryant (30.6%) and Jorge Soler (30.0%) just behind.
In addition to ISO, Kyle Schwarber led the team in walk rate, taking a free pass 13.2% of the time, with Dexter Fowler (12.2%) and – perhaps surprisingly – Miguel Montero (12.2%) tying for second.
In the end, Kris Bryant (6.5) led the team in WAR, with Anthony Rizzo (5.5) and Chris Coghlan (3.3) coming in second and third.
Chicago Cubs Starting Pitchers
Note: I have limited this category to players that have made starts for the Chicago Cubs in 2015. Only four guys (Arrieta, Lester, Hendricks, and Hammel) have thrown more than 100 innings, but I’ll keep everyone in to make it a tighter race.
Jake Arrieta (229.0) led the team in innings pitched, ahead of Jon Lester (205.0) and Kyle Hendricks (180.0).
Jake Arrieta (1.77) led the team in ERA, with Clayton Richard (3.00 – though just three starts) and Jon Lester (3.34) just behind.
Jake Arrieta (2.35) led the team in FIP, with Jon Lester (2.92) and Kyle Hendricks (3.36) up next.
Jake Arrieta (2.61) led the team in xFIP, with Jon Lester (3.06) and Kyle Hendricks (3.25) falling in just behind.
Jake Arrieta (236) led the team in strikeouts, with Jon Lester (207) and Jason Hammel (172) next.
Jake Arrieta (48) led the team in walks, with Jon Lester (47) and Kyle Hendricks (43) just behind.
Jake Arrieta (27.1%) led the team in strikeout rate, with Travis Wood (25.5% as a starter) and Jon Lester (25.0%) just behind.
Clayton Richard(2.7%) leads the starters in walk rate, with Dan Haren (5.3%) and Jake Arrieta (5.5%) just behind.
Donn Roach(68.8%), Dallas Beeler (66.7%) and Clayton Richard (58.7%) technically lead the team in ground ball rate, but Jake Arrieta (56.2%), Kyle Hendricks (51.3%) and Jon Lester (48.9%) are the leading regulars.
In the end, Jake Arrieta (7.3) led the starting staff (and team) in WAR, with Jon Lester (5.0) and Kyle Hendricks (3.4) behind the staff ace.
Chicago Cubs Relievers
Note: I have limited this category to players that have made appearances out of the bullpen for the Chicago Cubs in 2015. Because there are enough participants, I have limited the minimum number of innings to 10, bringing us to 13 total relievers. Unfortunately, this means that David Ross and Chris Denorfia won’t get to show off their sparkling 0.00 ERAs.
Hector Rondon (70.0) led the relievers in innings pitched, ahead of Pedro Strop (68.0) and Travis Wood (58.0).
Fernando Rodney (0.75) led the relievers in ERA, with Hector Rondon (1.67) and Justin Grimm (1.99) just behind.
Travis Wood (2.53) led the relievers in FIP, with Hector Rondon (2.68) and … Edwin Jackson (2.91) falling in just behind. Jackson, for what it’s worth, did that over 31.0 innings.
Trevor Cahill (2.31) led the relievers in xFIP, with Hector Rondon (3.03) and Justin Grimm (3.05) falling in just behind. Edwin Jackson was third to worst, with a 4.34 xFIP.
Pedro Strop (81) led the relievers in strikeouts, with Hector Rondon (71) and Travis Wood (69) falling in just behind.
Pedro Strop (29) also led the relievers in walks, with Travis Wood (27) and Justin Grimm (26) just behind.
Trevor Cahill (34.9%) led the relievers in strikeout rate, with Justin Grimm (32.8%) and Travis Wood (30.2%) just behind.
Trade deadline pickup Tommy Hunter (4.4%) led the relievers in walk rate, with Clayton Richard (4.6%) and Hector Rondon (5.3%) just behind.
Trevor Cahill (61.8%) led the relievers in ground ball rate, with Clayton Richard (59.8%) and Fernando Rodney (53.6%) following behind.
In the end, Hector Rondon (1.6) led the relief corps in WAR, with Pedro Strop (1.1) and Travis Wood (1.1) behind the Cubs closer.
Michael Cerami began covering the Chicago Cubs for Bleacher Nation as a part-time contributor in 2015. One year later, he joined Bleacher Nation full-time, covering the Chicago Cubs and Major League Baseball. Today, Michael runs Bleacher Nation, contributing as a writer (Cubs, MLB) and an editor for all sections of the site, including the Chicago Bears, Bulls, and Blackhawks, as well as MLB, NBA, NHL, and NFL.
In 2019, Michael was the co-host of NBC Sports Chicago's Cubs Post-Game Show Outside the Ivy.
You can find him on Twitter/X @Michael_Cerami
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NEWSLETTER
Now that the NLDS is over and we have some time to kill before the NLCS, let’s take a statistical look back at some of the individual performances in the regular season, and see who led the Cubs in the most meaningful/fun categories. Below, I’ve separated the starting pitchers from the relievers, to make the counting categories more fair, but let’s start with the offense.
