Who have been the Cubs’ biggest bright spots in 2024? |
As the Cubs are currently in last place, you could imagine a lot has gone wrong from this team’s red-hot 17-9 start to the season. The Cubs have faced a nearly insurmountable number of injuries, they have been baseball’s worst base-running team in terms of outs on the bases, the offense has gone into month-long slumps, and the defense has been uncharacteristically sloppy. When all of those things come together, and the Cubs have a lead, they have blown 17 saves.
However, the Cubs are only two games back in the loss column of a playoff spot — which means that despite all of those things going wrong, there has to be something going right. So it lends the question, who has been the Cubs’ biggest bright spot this season? Shota Imanaga: Cubs rookie Shota Imanaga feels like the obvious answer to this question. The 30-year-old from Kitakyushu, Japan, was signed to a four-year, 53$ million contract in January and has been worth every penny. Imanaga is 8-2 on the season through 17 starts. He is sporting an ERA of 2.97 in 97 innings pitched and has struck out 98 batters. Aside from two really rough starts, Imanaga has been phenomenal. The lefty has allowed two runs or less in 13 of his 17 starts, and he has gone six innings or deeper in 11 of those starts. While the Cubs have battled injuries and inconsistencies all season long, Imanaga has proven to be a constant to rely on in 2024. Imanaga is firmly in the NL’s Rookie of the Year and Cy Young race — and was elected as the Cubs’ lone All-Star this season. Jameson Taillon: Before the 2023 season, Jameson Taillon signed a four-year, 68-million-dollar contract with the Cubs. His first campaign in Chicago left much to be desired. Taillon was 8-10 with a 4.84 ERA, averaging less than a strikeout per inning, and had it not been for ending the season with four out of five quality starts, Taillon’s season ERA could have been near 6.00. Both the Cubs and Taillon expected more in 2024, but that was off to a rough start because he opened the season on the injured list. But since he made his first start on April 19th, Taillon has been excellent. Taillon has made 15 starts and has only allowed more than three runs once, and that was in a game the Cubs won. He is 6-4 on the season with a 2.99 ERA this year and is riding a six-start quality start streak. 10 of his 15 starts have featured outings with two runs or less allowed. This is the player the Cubs paid for. Michael Busch: The Cubs entered this past offseason with a noticeable hole at the corner infield position. While the Cubs did resign Cody Bellinger, who could factor into the first base conversation, the Cubs needed an everyday guy at the position. Once Jeimer Candelario departed in free agency the Cubs moved forward with Christopher Morel at third base, but they acquired someone via trade from the Dodgers to play first base. Enter Michael Busch. Busch struggled to find playing time with the Dodgers and the Cubs took a chance on him — and boy are they glad they did. Busch, according to numerous metrics, has been the league's third or fourth-best first basemen this season. Powered by a five-game home run streak, Busch has hit 12 home runs this season. The 26-year-old has proven to be effective against both righties and lefties at the plate. Busch’s slash line currently sits at .275/.365/.476 and leads the Cubs with a .841 OPS. While the Cubs have a lot of question marks on the roster, Busch seems like an answer. Ian Happ: Ian Happ has, without a doubt, been a bright spot this season; it just took a while to realize. Happ hit just one home run in April, and one had one in May thru May 26th. Happ’s struggles were well documented, but so have his hot streaks in his career. But, since May 26th, only Aaron Judge has been a better run producer than Happ. The switch hitter has 12 home runs since May 26th and has driven in 41 runs in his last 39 games. Mix that with Happ providing leadership in the clubhouse and gold glove-caliber defense in left field, and you understand why the Cubs inked Ian Happ to a three-year extension through 2026. HONORABLE MENTIONS: Justin Steele (2.95 ERA, although he finished top-5 in NL Cy Young voting last year so it has come to be expected from him), Mike Tauchman (.741 OPS in 66 games before injury), Javier Assad (3.04 ERA in 16 starts this season), Tyson Miller (1.74 ERA in 19 games since being acquired from Seattle), Porter Hodge (1.20 ERA in 13 appearances since being called up from AAA).
