Chicago Cubs Emerging Star Compared to One of Franchise's All-Time Great Pitchers

One starting pitcher for the Chicago Cubs continues to look like he should be a part of this rotation going forward.

Aug 31, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Javier Assad (72) reacts after coming off the mound against the Washington Nationals during the sixth inning at Nationals Park / Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images

The Chicago Cubs are going to have a lot of starting pitching options available to them going forward, and that's not even including the possibility they make a splash this offseason by bringing in one of the top arms on the market.

Signing Shota Imanaga last winter was perhaps the best under-the-radar deal of the cycle, as he firmly looks like a top-of-the-rotation guy who can pair with Justin Steele.

Behind those two, the Cubs are hoping their star prospect Cade Horton is ready to be a big leaguer in 2025 after he struggled with a 7.50 ERA in Triple-A before being placed on the 7-day injured list in late-May that turned into a 60-day designation that likely ended his year.

Injuries have been a common theme for Chicago throughout the season, but if they are able to get some positive health variance go their way in 2025, then they could have one of the best rotations in the MLB even if they don't add a high-profile free agent.

One starter who continues to produce despite not blowing anyone away is Javier Assad.

Throughout his career, the right-hander has largely been overlooked since he began in the rotation before being used out of the bullpen, before getting transitioned back into being a starter.

No matter what role Assad has held, he's been effective with a career 3.10 ERA and ERA+ that's 35 points over the league average across his 67 outings and 44 starts.

Because of that, Brett Taylor of Bleacher Nation has compared him to one of the Cubs all-time greats.

"Assad has been performing a whole lot like Kyle Hendricks did in his prime (not his peak, just his prime!). The strikeout rate is similar, the batted ball profile is extremely similar, and the deception is similar ... The other thing they have in common is how long they have succeeded before people accept that they might simply just be solid at what they do, even if it doesn’t check the traditional boxes," he writes.

While some Chicago fans might not be ready to make that leap to comparing him to World Series champion Kyle Hendricks who finished third in National League Cy Young voting in 2016, it's hard to argue with what Taylor is saying.

Assad is just flat out effective.

There's no other way to describe what he's been doing on the mound.

With only 235 strikeouts across 278.2 innings pitched, he's not blowing away batters by any means, but he is doing something to get Major League hitters out consistently by holding opposing lineups to a .238 average.

Although Hendricks has faced a ton of criticism in the past few years because of his declining play, he was still one of the best starters in the league for a stretch and has one of the lowest ERAs in franchise history.

If Assad can turn into even some version of Hendricks, Cubs fans everywhere should be happy he'll be in their starting rotation for seasons to come.