Who Were the Top 5 Pitches for the Chicago Cubs in 2024?

These were the best Chicago Cubs pitchers this season.

Sep 16, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Cubs pitcher Shota Imanaga (18) throws the ball against the Oakland Athletics during the first inning at Wrigley Field. / David Banks-Imagn Images

It has been a disappointing season to a degree for the Chicago Cubs, as they have missed the playoffs once again. 

Coming into the campaign, the Cubs were playoff hopefuls, but they didn’t really compete in either the National League Central division or for a Wild Card spot. 

Even though Chicago was by no means a bad team this year, they appear like a club that has a ways to go in order to truly compete in the NL. 

While they might have missed the playoffs, the Cubs did have a strong starting rotation this season.

Chicago had one of the best overall rotations in the league, as they had four starters with ERAs under 4.00. However, they did unfortunately have Kyle Hendricks produce the worst performance of his career, as his poor year held the rotation down overall. 

Recently, Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report ranked the Top 5 pitchers on the Cubs, starting with Shōta Imanaga, Justin Steele, Jameson Taillon, Javier Assad, and Porter Hodge.

“Shōta Imanaga has been a bit overshadowed by Paul Skenes and Jackson Merrill in the NL Rookie of the Year race during the second half, but he has had a fantastic debut in his own right. The 31-year-old is 15-3 with a 2.91 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and 174 strikeouts in 173.1 innings, and his 19 quality starts rank 11th in the majors. The Cubs bullpen has been inconsistent all season, but Porter Hodge has been a clear standout since making his MLB debut on May 22. The 23-year-old has a 1.98 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and 11.0 K/9 with seven saves and nine holds in 37 appearances, and he has moved into the closer's role since Héctor Neris was released.”

The performance of Imanaga this season has been not only one of the best rookies in baseball, but one of the best pitchers in the National League. Since he wasn’t hyped up as much as other players who have come over from Japan, he might have come in a bit overlooked. However, he was great in his rookie campaign. 

While the starting rotation is going to be strong for years to come, the bullpen will be an area that Chicago must look to improve. 

For the Cubs, while this campaign might have been a disappointment, they know that they will have a strong rotation to lean on in the future, which should make closing the gap between them and the Milwaukee Brewers a bit easier.