Experiment’s are for science class and not for a MLB roster, especially one that is primed for a long run in October. This is why the Chicago Cubs need to end the Clayton Richard experiment tonight.
We at Chicago Style Sports have been talking about the Cubs’ bullpen needs for a little while now (no we aren’t the only ones) here and here. The biggest reason is because of Clayton Richard.
No it is Richard has been the biggest disappointment out of the pen. While perhaps it wasn’t his fault since the Cubs put a lot of trust in him since his 2015 performance with the team, especially down the stretch. But with Clayton failing to pick up where he left off so far in 2016, he is forcing the Cubs front office to make a change.
| Year | W | L | ERA | ERA+ | FIP | WHIP |
| 2015 | 4 | 2 | 3.83 | 102 | 3.58 | 1.276 |
| 2016 | 0 | 0 | 6.00 | 70 | 3.33 | 1.778 |
To make things worse, Richards (a lefty) is getting walloped by lefties. Before Tuesday night’s matchup, lefties had been hitting .350 off of Richard, then he went ahead and gave up three consecutive hits to three consecutive left handed batters in the eighth inning of the Cubs and Dodgers game.
I liked Clayton last season, and thought the Cubs found a diamond in the rough (maybe a half karat diamond, but a diamond nonetheless), but he just hasn’t been the answer in 2016. The Cubs do potentially have the answer, and he is in their minor league system at the moment.
Carl Edwards Jr.
We are familiar with Edwards, and there has been mixed feelings on him, he has been lights out in Iowa this season. Pitching to the tune of a 1.86 ERA in 17 games, Edwards has been a goto guy for the Iowa Cubs this season. While Edwards isn’t a complete fix to the lefty-vs-lefty matchup that the Cubs are in desperate need of, he does pose a viable and nontraditional option to throw against left handed hitters. Carl has been owning lefties to the tune of a .207 avg thus far in the minors, and a not too shabby .122 avg vs righties.
Oh, and he posted a nice .125 avg against lefties in 2015.
While he doesn’t fix the Cubs glaring need in the pen, he does offer Joe Maddon another arm that can get outs, and that is what the team needs at this point. We are not saying the Cubs bullpen is broke, do not get us wrong, but we do see that there is a hole which can be corrected from within the organization. And that fix can be made before tomorrow’s game.
