The 2023 MLB season is warming up as pitchers and catchers have officially reported, and spring training draws closer. In this series of articles, TGH is going to be giving an early look at every team’s projected pitching rotations ahead of Opening Day on March 30. Here is the 2023 pitching rotation for the Chicago Cubs.
**Note: As these are very early projections, the pitching rotations are subject to change before the season officially begins.**
The Cubs finished third in the NL Central with a record of 74-88, missing the playoffs for a second season in a row. David Ross, who won the World Series with the Cubs as a catcher, returns as manager for his fourth season in 2023.
1. Marcus Stroman
2022 stats: 6-7, 3.50 ERA, 138.2 IP, 54 ER
Stroman’s first year in Chicago was underwhelming, but good enough to remain the top starter in 2023. 3.50 was his worst ERA since pitching just over 100 innings in 2018.
2. Jameson Taillon
2022 stats: 14-5, 3.91 ERA, 177.1 ERA, 77 ER
Taillon begins his first season as a Cub coming off a year in which he surrendered the most earned runs of his career. His ERA in 2022, though, remains the median of his six-year career so far.
3. Justin Steele
2022 stats: 4-7, 3.18 ERA, 119.0 ERA, 42 ER
Although he didn’t put out workhorse numbers in 2022, Steele had a very respectable season in 2022. He had the same number of wins as he did in 2021, even though he started 15 more games last season.
4. Drew Smyly
2022 stats:
Smyly leveraged a positional rotation on the 2021 World Series champion Atlanta Braves into a multi-year deal with the Cubs. His innings and wins fell in 2022, but his ERA was disproportionately better.
5. Adrian Sampson
2022 stats: 4-5, 3.11 ERA, 104.1 IP, 36 ER
Sampson pitched over 100 innings for just the second time in his career last season. Despite being in the league since 2016, Sampson has pitched in only five seasons.
Stay tuned for more breaking MLB content, including trade deadline information, power rankings and more news from every team.
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