From the Pages of Vine Line: Q&A with GM Jed Hoyer (Part 3)
(Photo By Stephen Green)
For the April issue of Vine Line, MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat sat down with Cubs General Manager Jed Hoyer to talk about the 2013 Cubs, the differences between this season and last, and what to look for as the organization moves forward.
In the final part of our three-part interview, Hoyer discusses the foundation for the club’s future success. With rebuilt staff, new players and minor league acquisitions, the Cubs aim to make significant progress from a year ago. The club established a more of a core this offseason, with the hopes of getting big results from those players while maintaining a level of success throughout the system.
To read the entire interview, pick up the April issue or subscribe to Vine Line today. Check out part one of our interview here and part two of our interview here.
Vine Line: You and Theo Epstein talk about sticking to a plan in building the Cubs. Do you feel you’re making progress?
Jed Hoyer: I think there’s been a lot of progress. There’s a lot more talent in that clubhouse than there was a year ago. But the only way there’s real progress is if we say the same thing next year and the year after that and keep building on that. There’s no way you can speed the hands of the clock. We have to let these guys develop. There’s only one draft a year, there’s only one trade deadline a year, and there’s only one area for free agency. We know it’s going to take some cycles of that. To do it every year, we have to come in here and say, “Whoa, we have a lot more talent.” If we keep doing that, eventually we’ll get to that critical mass when you say, “Hey, this is a really good team.”
VL: Some of your minor league additions—such as field coordinator Tim Cossins, pitching coordinator Derek Johnson and hitting coordinator Anthony Iapoce—didn’t make headlines, but they were key acquisitions.
JH: No question. A lot of the things that happen that the fans don’t see are just as important as what they do see. The tip of the iceberg is the major league team, and that’s the most important thing. We added a lot to the minor league system. Certainly, there are first-round guys who are brimming with talent, but there are organizations who continually find guys below the radar who people say come out of nowhere. A lot of that is good teaching in the minor leagues, and all of a sudden, these guys really develop. That’s what we’re looking for, and I think we have really good teachers leading that, and we have a lot of good coaches below them.
Every year, we want to feel better and better about the continuity—the best organizations have a lot of continuity. We want to develop that. We’re not there yet. We’re still making changes, but we want to get to the point where everyone knows how the Cubs teach and who’s teaching it.
VL: What’s your feeling on Dale Sveum heading into his second season as manager?
JH: The 101 losses [last year] are on Theo and me. We felt like Dale kept the clubhouse together. We had a 101-loss team with no brush fires at all. Guys really respect him. They play hard for him. Our goal is to make sure we have a really talented team that’s playing hard for him. I think Dale has done a great job. He’s a really good teacher, he’s well respected, and we’re looking forward to year two with him.
VL: Sveum doesn’t want players to limit themselves and be content with a .500 season. Do you have a winning percentage you want to see this year?
JH: I don’t really put a number on it. The biggest thing for me, and the thing that probably frustrated me the most a year ago, and the thing we have to change before we’re a good team, is we didn’t control the strike zone very well. We walked too many guys pitching-wise, and we didn’t get on base enough offensively. That to me is what really has to change. Hopefully, there are guys on our team who can change that, or we’re going to have to change personnel in order to do it.
VL: You did improve the pitching, but looking at the projected lineup, there haven’t been many changes. Why should fans watch the 2013 Cubs?
JH: I think the fans are starting to see what we’re trying to build—at first base with [Anthony] Rizzo, at shortstop with [Starlin] Castro, and certainly [Jeff] Samardzija. We’re hoping some more guys push their way into that group, whether it’s Welington Castillo or Nate Schierholtz. We like the addition of Nate and think he’s a guy who will benefit from a change of scenery. Darwin Barney had a fantastic year, and we think he can build on it offensively. We have a deeper pitching staff than we did a year ago.
We’ve been really honest to the fans, and I don’t think at any point we’ve misled them on what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to build something that every year they know is a playoff-quality team. That’s the goal. It doesn’t happen overnight, and we’ve been really honest about that. But I do think fans deserve to start seeing the fruits of our labor, and I think you’re going to start to see that coming together now.
2013 Pitching Profile: Jeff Samardzija
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After playing college ball at Notre Dame, Jeff Samardzija (1-1) was selected by the Cubs in the 5th round of the 2006 MLB Draft. While struggling to maintain consistency on the mound, the 6-foot-5 pitcher bounced back and forth between the minors and the Cubs from 2008-10 before becoming a regular in the bullpen in 2011. There he proved to be a reliable arm, going 8-4 with a 2.97 ERA in 88 innings.
The Shark entered Spring Training last year with an outside shot at making the rotation, but pitched well and was named the team’s No. 3 starter. He had a career year, posting a 3.81 ERA and striking out 180 batters before getting shut down after a Sept. 8 start.
Determined to get better, Samardzija dedicated himself to improving his arm and his conditioning throughout the offseason. For his efforts, he was named the Cubs ace in 2013.
In his Opening Day performance, Samardzija showed strong commitment to controlling the plate. In eight shutout innings, he struck out nine and allowed only two hits. Though he surrendered four hits, four runs and four walks in 5.2 innings in his second start, Samardzija fanned a career-high 13 batters.
Samardzija is one of several pitchers profiled in Vine Line‘s 2013 Pitching Preview, available in the April issue, on sale now. We’ll be posting pitching profiles throughout the month, so be sure to check back to see what’s in store on the mound for 2013.
JEFF SAMARDZIJA
Repertoire (Avg. MPH): 4-seam (96), 2-seam (95), Cutter (92), Change (87), Slider (85), Curve (78)
Age: 28
2012 Stats: 174 IP, 24.9 K percent, 7.5 UBB percent, 3.81 ERA, 103 ERA+, 1.22 WHIPLast Season: Proving he belongs
Perhaps nobody had higher expectations for Samardzija’s return to the rotation than the right-hander himself. Chief among his improvements last season was his control. He walked just 7.8 percent of the batters he faced, significantly lower than the 13 percent rate he had in 2011 out of the bullpen. His strikeout percentage increased from 23 percent to 25 percent, and his ground ball rate jumped from 43 percent to 47 percent. Samardzija leveraged his stuff better than before, even while doubling his innings prior to an early September shutdown.Plan of Attack: Get batters cheating on a variety of fastballs
Both of Samardzija’s fastballs sit in the mid- to high-90s, and his two-seamer is made even more impressive by his ability to run a few extra inches of movement while matching the velocity of his four-seamer. Overall, he likes to move pitches away from batters—using more two-seamers and splitters that fade away from lefties, while employing the cutter and slider against righties.Putaway Pitch: Splitter
The splitter is Samardzija’s No. 1 weapon, and his improved command of the fastball has made the split even more devastating. Samardzija rarely used his splitter on the first pitch, but employed it one-third of the time when ahead in the count. Comparing 2011 to 2012, his splitter was called for a ball less often (46 percent to 37 percent), got more swings (49 percent to 59 percent) and caused more whiffs when a batter did swing (43 percent to 46 percent). That last number has been part of a career improvement. In 2009 and 2010, Samardzija’s whiff-per-swing rates on the splitter were 24 percent and 30 percent, respectively.*Numbers courtesy Brooks Baseball
—Sean Ahmed
2013 Pitching Profile: Carlos Villanueva
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After becoming a free agent in October 2012, Carlos Villanueva struck a two-year, $10 million deal with the Cubs in early January. The Giants first signed the 29-year-old Dominican Republic native as an undrafted free agent in 2002, and then traded him to the Brewers in 2004.
Villanueva made his major league debut with Milwaukee in 2006 and played a valuable swing role with the team for five seasons before moving north of the border to the Blue Jays. For his career, he has a 33-35 record and a 4.23 ERA. He has made only 57 career starts in 302 games, but made the most starts of his career last season (16) with the Jays.
For now, with Matt Garza and Scott Baker on the DL, Villanueva fills the fifth spot in the Cubs starting rotation. In his first game against the Braves on April 6, Villanueva looked strong, going 6.2 innings with six strikeouts and one earned run. He staked his team to a 5-1 lead, but earned a no-decision after the Braves rallied in the eighth and ninth innings.
The man with the best moustache in baseball is one of several pitchers profiled in Vine Line‘s 2013 Pitching Preview, available in the April issue, on sale now. We’ll be posting pitching profiles throughout the month, so be sure to check back to see what’s in store on the mound for 2013.
CARLOS VILLANUEVA
Repertoire (Avg. MPH): 4-seam (90), 2-seam (89), Change (82), Slider (82), Curve (74), Slow Curve (63)
Age: 29
2012 Stats: 125 IP, 23.4 K%, 8.1 UBB%, 4.16 ERA, 102 ERA+, 1.27 WHIPLast Season: For the second consecutive year, Villanueva played a swing role, filling in admirably as a starter before fading late. Now he joins the Cubs on a two-year deal that has him replacing an injured Matt Garza early on. Usage will be important: Villanueva’s numbers have suffered from a few bad starts in the past.
Plan of Attack: Pitch to all four quadrants. Villanueva relies on a full assortment of pitches to all corners of the zone. His command is vital. He pitches off his four- and two-seam fastballs, and he loves to pull the string with a change-up on an aggressive hitter. He goes to the change heavily when behind in the count, as well as on first pitches against lefties. It got him in trouble with the long ball in 2012, but he gets a good mix of grounders and whiffs when it’s working down and away.
Putaway Pitch: Slider. Villanueva’s best breaking ball is his slider, a pitch with hard downward bite. More than 60 percent of his strikeouts last year came on the pitch, and it’s effective whether breaking in on lefties or away from righties. It did flatten out in 2011, and Villanueva’s strikeouts hit a career low. But the renewed tilt last year bounced the K rate back from 15 percent to 23 percent.
*Numbers courtesy of Brooks Baseball
—Sean Ahmed
Cubs set to take on defending champs
The Giants and 2012 NL MVP Buster Posey rolls into town Thursday. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
The defending world champs roll into Wrigley Field having won a second World Series title in just three years. They’ll be gunning for a third with much the same roster they fielded last season. GM Brian Sabean re-signed veteran center fielder Angel Pagan to a four-year deal and rewarded 37-year-old infielder Marco Scutaro with a three-year contract for his stretch-drive and World Series heroics. But the Giants’ activity (or lack thereof) in the hot stove season underscores how this year’s team is different. In 2012, they lost Pablo Sandoval for one-third of the year to injury, and they traded for Scutaro and right fielder Hunter Pence in the second half. Having that trio join NL MVP Buster Posey for all of 2013 should provide an offensive boost. If they get the same consistency from the league’s best rotation and their deep bullpen, they’ll be hard to beat—and a good bet to repeat.
HITTING: 4.2 RS/G (9th in NL)
What the Giants’ lineup lacks in pure slugging it makes up for in versatility. Though they finished last in the league in home runs in 2012, they take a big hit playing their home games in AT&T Park, where they managed just 31 homers all year. But if they get full seasons from Pence and Sandoval, they’ll have plenty of pop in any park. Despite the absence of a big-name burner, the Giants were fourth in the league in steals and swiped bases at an above-average 75 percent clip. With Pagan up front and the Panda-Posey-Pence trio in the heart of the order, the Giants could have a remarkably efficient short-sequence offense. To extend that all the way through the order, they will need first baseman Brandon Belt to finally break through. Left field could be manned by a rotating cast, as manager Bruce Bochy likes to exploit matchups.
2012 BATTING COMPARISON
Cubs Giants
.240 (15) AVG .269 (3)
.302 (16) OBP .327 (4)
.378 (14) SLG .397 (8)
3.78 (14) RS/G 4.43 (6)
PITCHING: 3.9 RA/G (5th in the NL)
When people talk about the Giants, it’s usually about their deep and stable rotation. But Tim Lincecum’s off year took some of the shine off their vaunted reputation. If the Freak recovers, he could give the Giants the toughest front four in baseball. Madison Bumgarner is coming into his own, and Ryan Vogelsong might be the reclamation project of the decade. The bullpen more than adapted to the absence of closer Brian Wilson, as Bochy effectively mixed a veteran quartet in righties Sergio Romo and Santiago Casilla and lefties Javier Lopez and Jeremy Affeldt. Bochy is expected to be more conventional this year, leaning heavily on Romo to notch saves. If there’s a cause for concern, it’s the unit’s age—this was one of the oldest staffs in baseball last season, and they’re all one year older now.
2012 PITCHING COMPARISON
Cubs Giants
4.51 (14) ERA 3.68 (5)
.259 (11) AVG .248 (5)
1.39 (14) WHIP 1.27 (7)
4.69 (14) RA/G 4.01 (6)
HITTER TO WATCH — BUSTER POSEY
What constitutes an MVP—value, stats, leadership skills? Posey’s case might rest on two equally impressive feats. For starters, he’s the best-hitting catcher in the league. Last season, he was second among NL catchers in home runs and became the first backstop to win the NL batting title since Ernie Lombardi in 1942. More fundamentally, he’s been around for just three seasons, and in the two he managed to stay healthy, the Giants won the World Series. His tremendous strike-zone judgment and excellent plate coverage make him hard to beat. At 26, he’s entering his prime and on the short list for best player in the game.
PITCHER TO WATCH — MATT CAIN
As if the Giants’ 2012 season wasn’t magical enough, let’s not forget Matt Cain, the man who threw the 22nd perfect game in big league history last year. Cain also set career highs in wins, strikeouts and ERA, and has clearly claimed the role of staff ace in a deep rotation. But that isn’t all that’s perfect about Cain. He’s a true four-pitch starter with low-90s velocity, and he has never been on the DL. That’s right—he’s taken the ball every fifth day for seven years running. All that, and he just turned 28. That is what perfection looks like. With Cain manning the No. 1 spot, the Giants’ rotation should be strong again in 2013. It looks like Cain should get the start in Friday afternoon’s game.
—By Christina Kahrl
From the Pages of Vine Line: Q&A with GM Jed Hoyer (Part 2)
(Photo by Stephen Green)
For the April issue of Vine Line, MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat sat down with Cubs General Manager Jed Hoyer to talk about the 2013 Cubs, the differences between this season and last, and what to look for as the organization moves forward.
In the second part of our three-part interview, Hoyer talks about the organization’s young prospects, including slugging Cuban outfielder Jorge Soler and highly touted shortstop Javier Baez. So far this season, both Daytona Cubs players have shown promise at the plate. After just two games, Soler recorded a .333 batting average in nine at-bats, and Baez held a .250 average with one double, one home run and three RBI.
To read the entire interview, pick up the April issue or subscribe to Vine Line today. And check out part one of our interview here.
Vine Line: Fans were eager to see prospects like Jorge Soler and Javier Baez this spring. How excited were you to get a closer look at them?
Jed Hoyer: I’ll be honest, I look forward to the sixth through ninth innings [in Spring Training] more than I look forward to the first five innings. We’ll watch the veteran guys all year. Watching [Jeff] Samardzija the other day, he was clearly working on his off-speed stuff. The results weren’t the most important thing to him. When you get a chance to see Baez and Soler now, it’s nice. During the season, we’ll have to go to different minor league cities to see those guys, but getting a chance to see the young players up close is something we cherish, because we can’t do that all season.
VL: How important was it to have these kids in big league Spring Training camp?
JH: You want to see those guys learn. Seeing Baez standing next to Dale [Sveum] during the game, seeing Soler following Castro around—it’s really important that they see what it’s all about. They’re going to go off to the minor leagues this year, and they’re too busy to have a chance to watch many of our games. Now they get to see how we do things. We kind of joke about slowing things down just because there’s a lot of development left with all these guys. When they get up to the big leagues, they’ll have their struggles as well. It doesn’t mean they’re not really good prospects. Their time is not now. We have to temper ourselves all the time. As a result, we encourage the fans and media to do the same thing. It is a long process.
VL: Cubs fans have seen other highly touted prospects like Félix Pié and Corey Patterson fail to live up to the hype. How are Baez and Soler different?
JH: The truth of the matter is, there is an attrition rate with prospects. There’s no question our goal is to build up a ton of them. I’m glad we’re talking about multiple names now and not just one. I think when you start talking about just one, there’s a lot of danger. I hope this isn’t the best farm system we have. We want to be really deep, so when there is that natural attrition, some guys will outperform expectations and some guys will underperform expectations. I certainly hope not, but it’s the reality.
You grab a top 100 list from Baseball America and flip through it five years later, and there are guys who miss. I don’t think anyone is immune to that. That’s why we want to build up a lot of depth. That’s why having good drafts and doing well internationally is important. You need depth to make sure you get the best nine guys on the field, the best five starting pitchers.
VL: Everyone wants to know when guys like Baez, Soler and Albert Almora will get to the big leagues. Do you have a timetable for them?
JH: The players will determine that, not us. I want nothing more than for these guys to pound the door down and make it clear they’re ready. I think the worst thing we can do is speed up their development for the sake of some arbitrary timetable. They need to go level to level. They need to show they can control the strike zone. They need to show they’re ready. When they are, certainly, we want them here. At the same time, I don’t think we should look at it that we’re controlling it; they control it.
VL: At the Winter Meetings, you talked about how some players can’t use youth as an excuse anymore. What did you mean by that?
JH: Until you’re a true veteran player, you’ll learn new things and make mistakes. … But at some point, you’re not a young player anymore. I think Starlin [Castro] is getting close to that point. He’s probably not quite there yet. A guy [Ian} Stewart’s age, youth isn’t something you can use. [Anthony] Rizzo isn’t quite there either. He’ll probably still have some ups and downs.
You want to get to that point where you have young veterans—that’s your ideal. If you look at the history of the game, the best players break in young, they have their ups and downs, and they start to establish themselves when they’re 24 or 25 years old. That’s what we want to build is that young group that’s been around for a while. I know it sounds like a contradiction, but the younger these guys break in, the more they can make their mistakes early and be ready in their mid-20s. That was a big part of us extending Castro’s [contract] as far as we did. He’s a 23-year-old guy who is going into his fourth season, and that’s a great thing for us.
2013 Pitching Profile: Scott Feldman
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When the Cubs (2-1) take on the Braves (2-1) at Turner Field Friday night, Scott Feldman will take the mound for his debut appearance as a member of the rebuilt 2013 Cubs pitching staff. Feldman signed a one-year deal worth $6 million, with a possible $1 million in incentives, back in November.
The 30-year-old right-handed pitcher spent 2005-12 with the Rangers. After two seasons pitching out of the bullpen, Feldman was converted to a starter in 2008. He had a breakout year in 2009 when he finished with a 17-8 record, which tied for fourth in AL wins. He also tied for the major league lead with 12 wins on the road.
Last season’s 5.09 ERA was a bit higher than his career 4.81 mark, but Feldman evolved into a strikeout pitcher with a career high 7.0 K/9. Though he’ll make his first NL start on the road, Feldman looks forward to standing on the mound at Wrigley Field, where he has never pitched before.
“I can’t wait,” Feldman said. “I’m sure it will be one of those things where you get some little goose bumps going and realize you’re in Wrigley. It’s cool. It’s like playing in Fenway or Yankee Stadium.”
Feldman is one of several pitchers profiled in Vine Line‘s 2013 Pitching Preview, available in the April issue, on sale now. We’ll be posting pitching profiles throughout the month, so be sure to check back to see what’s in store on the mound for 2013.
SCOTT FELDMAN*
Repertoire (Avg. MPH): 4-seam (92), Sinker (92), Cutter (90), Change (86), Curve (77)
Age: 30
Arm Angle: Three-quarter
2012 Stats: 123 IP, 17.9 K%, 5.6 UBB%, 5.09 ERA, 89 ERA+, 1.38 WHIPLast Season: Looking for a Return to Form
Feldman is a balanced veteran who broke out in 2009, earning himself a three-year deal with the Rangers and an Opening Day start in 2010. But he got hit around on his way to a 5.48 ERA that year, missed most of 2011 due to microfracture surgery on his knee and wrapped up his Rangers career with a 5.09 ERA in 2012. Though last year marked his second poor full season in a row, the fundamentals showed something different. His K rate jumped from 12 percent to 18 percent, his walk rate dropped from 7 percent to 6 percent, and he gave up fewer extra-base hits.Plan of Attack: Stay off the Barrel
Nothing out of Feldman’s hand is straight. He’s a true sinkerballer, turning the ball over to create heavy movement and get batters to pound the ball into the ground. But he’s more than a one-trick pony, mixing all four of his primary pitches—sinker, cutter, change and curve—in all counts and situations. He prefers to jam hitters to produce a bevy of choppers and pop-ups. He’ll bust his cutter up and in against lefties, while boring his sinker down and in on righties.Putaway Pitch: Curveball
Feldman’s other weapon is a curve that has developed into a breaker with more drop and glove-side sweep. He uses it roughly a quarter of the time, and he gets an above-average 35 percent whiffs when a batter swings (up from about 25 percent in 2009). Look for the curve to be thrown away, goading righties into swinging over it and lefties into taking it for a called third strike. Because the curve and change have gotten more play, he’s become less of a ground ball pitcher and more of a strikeout guy.*Numbers courtesy Brooks Baseball
—Sean Ahmed
2013 Pitching Profile: Travis Wood
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The Cubs are hoping to close out the first series of 2013 with a win, as Travis Wood takes the mound against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park Thursday afternoon. The 26-year-old left-hander is entering his fourth major league season, his second with the Cubs.
Though his 4.27 ERA in 2012 was below major league average, the coaching staff worked with Wood on developing a system to attack both sides of the plate. Today’s game will be a sneak peek at what he has to offer the rebuilt pitching staff this season.
Wood should also benefit the batting order, as he’s one of the better hitting pitchers on the team. Last year, he hit .189 with three doubles, one home run and four RBI. He has hit one home run in each of his three major league seasons.
Wood is one of several pitchers profiled in Vine Line’s 2013 Pitching Preview, available in the April issue, on sale now. We’ll be posting pitching profiles throughout the month, so be sure to check back to see what’s in store on the mound for 2013.
Travis Wood*
Repertoire (Avg. MPH): 4-seam (90), 2-seam (89), Cutter (88), Change (80), Slider (80), Curve (75)
Age: 26
2012 Stats: 156 IP, 18.3 K%, 7.9 UBB%, 4.27 ERA, 92 ERA+, 1.20 WHIPLast Season: Finding Control
Wood started the season in Triple-A to iron out command issues but quickly played himself into a useful bottom-of-the-rotation piece. Though his 4.27 ERA was a shade below major league average, his season suffered from three horrible July starts (22 ER, 9 HR, 15.2 IP). He is a true fly ball pitcher, but he experienced a huge jump in home runs per fly (from about 6 percent in 2010-11 to 12 percent in 2012) largely due to those three games. He’ll hope to lower that HR/FB rate this year through better luck and execution.Plan of Attack: Use Both Sides of the Plate
Working with the Cubs coaching staff, Wood developed an entirely new way to attack hitters last year, using a backdoor, arm-side cutter against righties for the first time. Wood is a six-pitch pitcher who leans heavily on his hard stuff, throwing about 75 percent fastballs against both right- and left-handed hitters. But there’s still a significant difference within the hard/soft mix. He throws many more two-seam and cut fastballs against righties, which fade away and run in, respectively. He then builds in a change-up to keep hitters off balance. Against lefties, Wood looks to leverage the velocity, location and deception on his four-seam fastball. When he gets ahead in the count, he goes to his slider, which dives away from lefties.Putaway Pitch: Fastball
While his slider and change-up get the most whiffs, Wood’s four-seam fastball really brings him home with two strikes. It’s a low-90s pitch that he can either locate away from lefties or elevate over the plate to get righties to chase.*Numbers courtesy Brooks Baseball
—Sean Ahmed
2013 Pitching Profile: Edwin Jackson
(Photo by Stephen Green)
Following what seemed like an interminable Spring Training season, Edwin Jackson will finally make his Cubs debut tonight against the Pirates at 6 p.m. CST. In January, the 29-year-old right-handed pitcher became the first major free agent signing of the Theo Epstein/Jed Hoyer era when he inked a four-year, $52 million contract with the team. With temperatures hovering in the mid-30s at Pittsburgh’s PNC Park Wednesday, it could be a good night to be a power pitcher.
Though Jackson’s career has been marked by short stints with various major league teams—he’s now with his eighth team in 10 big league seasons—his stats show general improvement. In 2012, Jackson finished the year with a 4.03 ERA and 8.0 K/9, slightly better than his career 4.40 ERA and 6.9 K/9. With a fastball that can reach 97-98 mph, Jackson brings a top-line power arm to the fold and will strengthen the Cubs’ pitching depth—a crucial component to success.
Jackson is one of several pitchers profiled in Vine Line‘s 2013 Pitching Preview, available in the April issue, on sale now. We’ll be posting pitching profiles throughout the month, so be sure to check back to see what’s in store on the mound for 2013.
EDWIN JACKSON*
Repertoire (Avg. MPH): 4-seam (94), 2-seam (94), Cutter (93), Change (87), Slider (86), Curve (80)
Age: 29
2012 Stats: 189 IP, 21.3 K percentage, 6.8 UBB percentage, 4.03 ERA, 98 ERA+, 1.22 WHIP
Last Season: Steady Improvement
As the rotation horse for last year’s playoff-bound Nationals, Jackson had somewhat of a coming of age. The flamethrower, who didn’t turn 29 until season’s end, set career bests with his strikeout and walk rates (21 percent and 7.3 percent, respectively). Despite already working for eight major league employers, Jackson’s career has been marked by durability and general improvement since he made his big league debut after his 20th birthday. He’ll be well worth the Cubs’ four-year investment if he extends his streak of five straight seasons with at least 180 innings.
Plan of Attack: If you have two plus-plus pitches, use them
Watching Jackson deal can be a real treat. His momentum drives toward the plate, and his explosive arm action generates a mid-90s fastball that can touch 97-98 mph even into the late innings. He relies mostly on the pure velocity of his four-seamer, but he’ll sink some two-seamers (and an adequate change-up) away from lefties as well. He even re-implemented a cut fastball during the second half of last season. But his fastball largely sets up his other great weapon—the slider.
Putaway Pitch: Slider
If Jackson gets two strikes on a hitter, watch out. Last season, one of every two swings on Jackson’s slider was a whiff. It was even harder to hit with less than two strikes, when hitters weren’t expecting it. Jackson’s slider has late, downward break and moves farther out of the zone as the game goes along. Largely thanks to the increased use of his slider, as well as his sinking fastball, Jackson transformed from a fly-ball pitcher before 2010 to a more neutral one since.*Numbers courtesy Brooks Baseball
—Sean Ahmed
From the Pages of Vine Line: Q&A with GM Jed Hoyer (Part 1)
(Photo by Stephen Green)
The end of Spring Training marked the beginning of Year Two for Cubs General Manager Jed Hoyer. Besides knowing his way around Wrigleyville a little better, he also comes into 2013 with a much improved feel for the organization, at both the major league and minor league levels.
The 2012 Cubs had their share of on-field struggles, so Hoyer spent much of his second offseason with the organization finding ways to improve on last year’s meager win total. But Hoyer has a plan, and he doesn’t want to deviate from it. His focus was on finding players who fit what the Cubs are trying to do.
Part of that plan included making the new front office’s first big free-agent splash, adding 29-year-old right-handed pitcher Edwin Jackson, who the team signed to a four-year, $52 million deal in January. Other notable acquisitions included low-risk, high-reward signings like right-handers Scott Baker, Scott Feldman and Carlos Villanueva, and outfielders Nate Schierholtz and Scott Hairston.
For the April issue of Vine Line, MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat sat down with Hoyer to talk about the 2013 Cubs, the differences between this season and last, and what to look for as the organization moves forward. We’ll post some of the quotes here on the blog in the next few weeks. To read the entire interview, pick up the April issue or subscribe to Vine Line today.
Vine Line: Coming off a rough year in 2012, what was your top priority this offseason?
Jed Hoyer: As an organization, we’re still not where we want to be from a pitching standpoint. I think that probably the biggest weakness when we got here was depth in pitching, especially at the upper levels. Ideally, you want to home-grow all of your pitching. We don’t have that luxury right now, so we actively sought out a lot of starting pitching. We brought in four guys we see as starters: [Edwin] Jackson, [Scott] Feldman, [Scott] Baker and [Carlos] Villanueva. We’ve had some injuries and setbacks this spring, but we feel we can weather that storm. That was certainly a priority for the offseason.
VL: Jackson’s contract—four years, $52 million—surprised some fans because of the length and amount.
JH: The biggest thing with him is his age. He’s been really durable. He’ll pitch this year at 29 years old. Our goal is to create a really good, young team. At some point, we know we’ll have to delve into free agency. You can’t wait and do it all at once. Signing a 29-year-old pitcher to a four-year deal, we felt, was the right thing to do. Getting him at this age, we feel he still has some upside left and that it was a prudent decision. We’re excited to have him.
VL: Ian Stewart struggled last year and was sidelined by a wrist injury. Why did you decide to bring him back?
JH: We’re not really sure we saw the best of Ian last year. He had the wrist injury, and he never felt 100 percent. We had a lot of discussions about that in the offseason and decided to bring him back, given he had the wrist surgery. We felt he’d be ready to go. Unfortunately, he had a setback early in the spring. I still feel the wrist was an issue with his hitting, but we don’t know how much it affected him last year. We thought the right thing to do was bring him back. It’s hard to find third basemen in today’s game. He’s a really good defender, he’s a left-handed hitter, he has power. There’s a lot there, and hopefully we can unlock it.
VL: How different was this spring compared to last year?
JH: It’s a lot different. I went through the same thing in San Diego when I went there in 2010. I felt so much more comfortable in 2011. Your first year is a blur. Theo and I talk about that all the time. Every face is new from a player standpoint, coaching staff, media, staff. Now you know people, so you feel more comfortable. Even with the players, that’s the biggest thing. It’s a lot different spring in a good way. We hope not to make any changes any time soon and hope to become part of the fabric of the Cubs going forward.
Hot Off the Presses: Vine Line’s Opening Day Issue
You can never have too much pitching.
If you need further proof of that old baseball axiom, let’s look at the 2012 Cubs. They started the season with a fairly solid rotation behind a pitching-out-of-his-gourd Ryan Dempster, reliever-turned-starter Jeff Samardzija, a rejuvenated Paul Maholm and young veteran fireballer Matt Garza. At the back end, there were two options: newly acquired lefty Travis Wood and underachieving former top draft pick Chris Volstad.
Things looked pretty good on paper. But, as we all know, that didn’t last long.
The offense didn’t score. Injuries took their toll. The trade deadline came and went. And, well, the rest is lamentable Cubs history.
It turned out the team didn’t have much major league-ready talent behind those guys—in the starting rotation or in the bullpen—and baseball president Theo Epstein’s preseason prediction, “The numbers show you’re going to need your ninth starter through the course of the year,” came true.
As a result, the front office was laser focused on one thing throughout the hot stove season: acquiring more serviceable big league pitching to ensure there isn’t a repeat performance of last season.
“I think that probably the biggest weakness when we got here was depth in pitching, especially at the upper levels,” General Manager Jed Hoyer said. “Ideally, you want to home-grow all of your pitching. We don’t have that luxury right now, so we actively sought out a lot of starting pitching. We brought in four guys we see as starters: [Edwin] Jackson, [Scott] Feldman, [Scott] Baker and [Carlos] Villanueva.”
The Cubs might not have a traditional “ace” coming into the season, but they have three guys with the ability to fill that role in Samardzija, Garza and Jackson. If strike-throwing machine Baker can fully recover from last April’s Tommy John surgery, he should be a useful veteran addition to the staff. Feldman and Villanueva have both proven they can start and relieve in the big leagues, giving manager Dale Sveum plenty of flexibility. And Travis Wood, the only lefty in the starting mix, has tremendous athleticism and mixes in six different pitches.
The team also solidified the bullpen by re-signing veteran Shawn Camp and bringing in Japanese reliever Kyuji Fujikawa. Even Rule 5 pick Hector Rondon, who is required to stay on the 25-man major league roster all season or be offered back to the Indians, looked impressive in his spring appearances.
The April issue of Vine Line takes a look at the Cubs pitching staff from top to bottom to give you an idea of what each pitcher throws, how they attack hitters and what to expect this season.
We also sat down with Hoyer to get a sense of where the organization stands as he enters his second season in the driver’s seat. The team certainly still has work to do, but there are many reasons to feel optimistic about the future.
“We’re trying to build something that every year [fans] know is a playoff-quality team,” Hoyer said. “It doesn’t happen overnight, and we’ve been really honest about that. But I do think fans deserve to start seeing the fruits of our labor, and I think you’re going to start to see that coming together now.”
Still, winning organizations are not built solely by shrewd front office maneuvers. They require buy-in from coaches, players and personnel at every level. While we were in Mesa, Ariz., with the team this spring, we got a firsthand look at how the Cubs’ message is being passed along from veteran players, like David DeJesus and Alfonso Soriano, to the younger generation, like Anthony Rizzo and Brett Jackson. It’s a time-honored baseball tradition—each spring, older players take the young studs under their wings to teach them the ins and outs of the major league game.
To read these stories and more, pick up the April issue of Vine Line, on sale now at select Chicago-area retailers. Or subscribe to Vine Line today. And you can follow us on Twitter at @cubsvineline.
Baseball is back. Let’s see where this ride takes us.
