2020 Chicago Cubs Preview – MLB Preview & Prediction
The Cubs are one team that has shown that they can be a winning team if they are pushed hard. However, the Cubs are starting to face a lot of competition this year and in the NL Central almost any team could feasibly win the division with a quick strike. The only team that is really ruled out for the NL Central in most books is the Pittsburgh Pirates. With that being the case, it is time to see how we think the Chicago Cubs will do this year by reading our Chicago Cubs preview for the 2020 season.
Chicago Cubs Starters
The starting pitching for the Cubs are one rotation that is fairly set on the year. The Cubs are coming in with a set that should look familiar to the Cubs fans. Yu Darvish is the staff ace for the Cubs. Kyle Hendricks, Jon Lester, Jose Quintana, and Tyler Chatwood is in the fifth starter for the Cubs. Darvish last year started in 31 games and threw a total of 178.2 innings and struck out 229 batters. Darvish did post a 6-8 record with a 3.98 ERA.
Chicago Cubs Relievers
When it comes to the bullpen Chicago could have some issues as the bullpen does not have any big names in it. The bullpen for Chicago has Roman Wick, Jeremy Jeffress, Kyle Ryan, Ryan Tepera, and Brad Wieck. The closer for Chicago is projected to be Craig Kimbrel. Last season Kimbrel pitched in a total of 23 games with 20.2 innings being pitched. He did manage to strike out 30 batters and posted an 0-4 record with a 6.53 ERA, but managed to get 13 saves with 3 blown saves.
Chicago Cubs Catchers
Catching for the Cubs will look familiar as well with Willson Contreras is back to start behind the plate. The backup at catcher and at first base is Victor Caratini. Contreras last year played in 105 games and ended up hitting at a clip of .272 with 24 homers and 64 runners brought home. When it comes to getting the runners thrown out that tried to steal on the Cubs Contreras had an off year for him throwing out only 29.1% of the base runners.
Chicago Cubs Corners
Manning the corners will be what has become the mainstays for Chicago lately. That is going to come with Anthony Rizzo manning first and Kris Bryant taking duties at third. Backing at third base is going to be David Bote. Rizzo last year ended up playing in 146 games and hit at a clip of .293 with 27 homers and 94 RBIs on the year. Kris Bryant last year played in 147 games and managed to hit at a clip of .282 with 31 homers and brought home 77 runners.
Chicago Cubs Middle Infield
Playing the middle of the field for the Cubs it is projected to be Nic Hoerner at second and Javier Baez at short. Hoerner backs up at short and David Bote backs up at second base. Last season Hoerner ended up playing in only 20 games, but managed to hit at a clip of .282 with 3 homers and 17RBIs. Baez for his part played in 138 games and ended up hitting at a clip of .281 on the year with 29 homers and 85 RBIs on the season.
Chicago Cubs Outfield
Playing in the outfield for the Cubs could be nice this year as the Cubs may not have any potential ivy to deal with this year. The Cubs outfield is set to be Kyle Schwarber in left, Ian Happ in center, and Jason Heyward in right. The backups is Happ in left, Albert Almora Jr. in center, and Steven Souza Jr. in right field. Last year Schwarber ended up playing in 155 games and hit at a clip of .250 on the year while hitting 38 homers and bringing home 92 runners. Happ last year ended up playing in 58 games for the Cubs, but hit at a clip of .264 on the season with 11 homers and 30. Heyward for his part ended up playing in 147 games while hitting at a clip of .251 on the year while cranking out 21 batters and bringing home 62 runners.
Chicago Cubs Prediction
With the Cubs the team have been able to do quite a bit to maintain the team that they have last year. The Cubs were able to do decent in the year and that would really help the Cubs in starting to get to look even better on the year this season. What else will help the Cubs out is the fact that the team does have some good pitching depth and that can help the Cubs out. What else can help the Cubs out is the fact that the team has quite a bit of offensive power on the roster and that will definitely help guarantee the Cubs a finish towards the top in the very competitive NL Central.
