We Haven’t Appreciated them Enough

I sit and watch “Chicago sports fans” spew awfully hateful stuff on current players all the time on Facebook or Twitter. Do you remember Cody Parkey? The guy missed a field goal and he received death threats, DEATH THREATS!? I don’t want to tell anyone how to fan, but if you are sending death threats to an athlete – someone that, contrary to your ridiculous belief, wants to succeed – then you don’t deserve to be a fan.

We are not alone. This isn’t just a Chicago fan base thing. After Game 4 of the World Series, LA Dodgers fans took to Instagram to ridicule Kenley Jansen when he blew the save. His Insta was instantly filled with hate, racism, death threats and just about anything else you might imagine. I battle with myself on actually linking it here as I don’t want to add to the potential hate, so if you’re interested you are free to find it yourself.

I am a staunch supporter of Kris Bryant, a player that has found himself at the receiving end of a ton of unjustified criticism. Early in his career, I was also a Javier Baez apologist (before it became cool to do so). I have been known to look for stats to suggest Jason Heyward was better than you think. Ian Happ has had ALL the support, then NONE of the support, and then ALL of the support again.

Whether you like a particular player or not, I don’t know if we, collectively, have appreciated this current core enough.

We have gone from 2016 World Series to a bunch of social media general managers that have been screaming that the team should have traded him, him, him, and him and them way back in 2017! These Facebook GM’s have hardly ever stopped to appreciate the players on the roster. They haven’t stopped to appreciate what they have given us and have given the game.

So I thought I would take a quick moment to show where this core of players and how they rank all-time among Cubs.

Catcher – Willson Contreras

We all seemingly understand that Willson Contreras is a top-five catcher in baseball. At his best, he is the top offensive catcher in the league and his improved defense in 2020 only increases his value. Here is how Contreras ranks among the Cubs best.

Batting AVG

• King Kelly (1880-1886): .316 BA
• Gabby Hartnett (1922-1940): .297 BA
• Michael Barrett (2004-2007): .284 BA
• Bob O’Farrell (1915-1925, 1934): .279 BA
• Johnny Kling (1900-1910): .272 BA
• Bob Scheffing (1941-1942, 1946-1950): .266 BA
• Pop Schriver (1891-1894): .265 BA
• Willson Contreras (2016-Present): .265

Contreras ranks eighth all-time in batting average, there’s only one other catcher in the past 70 years to be represented on this list (Michael Barrett).

On Base Percentage

• Gabby Hartnett (1922-1940): .370
• King Kelly (1880-1886): .367
• Bob O’Farrell (1915-1925, 1934): .364
• Willson Contreras (2016-Present): .351

Contreras is listed fourth all-time on this list, and two of the players were playing more than 100 years ago.

Slugging Percentage

• Gabby Hartnett (1922-1940): .490
• Michael Barrett (2004-2007): .484
• Willson Contreras (2016-Present): .463

Contreras lists third on this list. If we look for OPS, he ranks fourth all-time (.814). I would hope you start to see where I am going with this here, Contreras not only is one of the best catchers in the game today, he is one of the best in Cubs history.

wRC+ (total offensive value scaled to ballpark and era/year)

• King Kelly (1880-1886): 138
• Gabby Hartnett (1922-1940): 127
• Willson Contreras (2016-Present): 116

This stat helps us judge a player’s total offensive performance, and can use this number to compare across eras. Contreras rates as the third most prolific catcher in Cubs history, the second-most since the turn of the century (err… since 1900…) and the most prolific in 80 years.

First Base – Anthony Rizzo

Anthony Rizzo has been a fan favorite for some time. Would it surprise you if I told you there was a time in his Cubs career that fans wanted him to be sent back to Triple-A? Yes, that is the case. In 2013, fans thought Rizzo should be sent down to Iowa to refine some things. He was hitting lefties horribly, and at the midway point, he owned a .241/.328/.441 slash. He paired that up with an even worse second half, slashing .222/.316/.389. It really wasn’t until the second half of the 2014 season that Rizzo became the player we have grown to love. That is when we slashed .307/.397/.581 in his final 47 games.

Batting average

• Ray Grimes (1921-1924): .331
• Cap Anson (1876-1897): .329
• Bill Everitt (1895-1900): .323
• Mark Grace (1988-2000): .308
• Bill Buckner (1977-1984): .300
• Derrek Lee (2004-2010): .298
• Frank Chance (1898-1912): .297
• Charlie Grimm (1925-1936): .296
• Eddie Waitkus (1941, 1946-1948): .294
• Phil Cavarretta (1934-1953): .292
• Dee Fondy (1951-1957): .285
• Joe Pepitone (1970-1973): .284
• Leon Durham (1981-1988): .279
• George Decker (1892-1897): .279
• Fred Merkle (1917-1920): .278
• Anthony Rizzo (2012-Present): .274

Rizzo is 16th all-time among Cubs first baseman in batting average. While there are several light-hitting (meaning from a power standpoint) 1B in the Cubs history, noted on this list, I would assume his ranking probably surprises a number of you. Coincidently, his average is tied with legendary great, Ernie Banks. So, anytime you are equal to one of the best players ever, you’ve done something pretty significant.

On Base Percentage

• Ray Grimes (1921-1924): .418
• Cap Anson (1876-1897): .395
• Frank Chance (1898-1912): .394
• Mark Grace (1988-2000): .386
• Derrek Lee (2004-2010): .378
• Anthony Rizzo (2012-Present): .374

Rizzo improves his rankings here. There are a number of people, myself included, that believe OBP is much more important than a batting avg. Batting avg merely suggests a percentage of times you reach base via a hit, while OBP tells you how often you actually reach base. In that sense, Rizzo has reached base more often than all other Cubs first basemen outside of the five listed here. Also, as I review these lists, the Cubs went 35 years with having Hall of Fame first basemen on the club (Anson to Chance).

Slugging Percentage

• Derrek Lee (2004-2010): .524
• Anthony Rizzo (2012-Present): .492

I will note, Ernie Banks does come in ahead of Rizzo on this list (with a .500 career SLG) but he was technically the first baseman from 1961 to 1971, and over that period he posted a .454 SLG, which was tied for eighth-best on the Cubs all-time lists. Rizzo’s OPS of .866 puts him third all-time among Cubs first baseman, behind Grimes (.907) and Lee (.903).

wRC+

• Ray Grimes (1921-1924): 139
• Frank Chance (1898-1912): 137
• Cap Anson (1876-1897): 134
• Anthony Rizzo (2012-Present): 133

Rizzo ranks fourth all-time on the Cubs offensive first basemen list. This is rather incredible as first is typically the spot where you sacrifice some defense for offensive ability. The Cubs have three Hall of Fame first basemen, and two of those players are ahead of Rizzo on the wRC+ list.

Shortstop – Javier Baez

This is where things will get weird. One, Baez has only been the club’s shortstop since the 2018 season. That has only really been due to Addison Russell’s issues outside the game (then of course the eventual non-tendering). Baez also has two careers, pre and post 2018. While he was a significant contributor in 2017 (and even before that) he never posted an above average offensive season before 2018, and then did so in 2018 and 2019 (while struggling in 2020).

Batting average

• Charlie Hollocher (1918-1924): .304
• Bill Dahlen (1891-1898): .299
• John Peters (1874-1877, 1879): .295
• Sparky Adams (1922-1927): .292
• Woody English (1927-1936): .291
• Ryan Theriot (2005-2010): .287
• Ricky Gutierrez (2000-2001): .284
• Starlin Castro (2010-2015): .281
• Ernie Banks (1953-1971): .274
• Shawon Dunston (1985-1995): .267
• Jose Vizcaino (1991-1993): .265
• Tom Burns (1880-1891): .264
• Javier Baez (2014-Present): .264

Baez comes in 13th all-time here. If we just record his 2018-2020 stats (.272) he would finish 10th all-time. No one will ever mistake Baez for a high-average type of player. He might see a season or two where his average lifts to .290 (like 2018) but he is a free swinger that will always extend the zone.

On Base Percentage

• Bill Dahlen (1891-1898): .384
• Charlie Hollocher (1918-1924): .370
• Woody English (1927-1936): .368
• Ricky Gutierrez (2000-2001): .359
• Ryan Theriot (2005-2010): .350
• Sparky Adams (1922-1927): .346
• Ned Williamson (1879-1890): .338
• Ivan DeJesus (1977-1981): .330
• Ernie Banks (1953-1971): .330
• Andre Rodgers (1961-1964): .330
• Jimmy Cooney (1926-1927): .324
• Clyde Beck (1926-1930): .321
• Starlin Castro (2010-2015): .321
• Billy Jurges (1931-1938): .316
• Don Kessinger (1964-1975): .315
• Addison Russell (2015-2019): .312
• Jose Hernandez (1994-1999, 2003): .309
• Jose Vizcaino (1991-1993): .309
• Barry McCormick (1896-1901): .304
• Javier Baez (2014-Present): .304

Welp, he made the top 20! Barely… Even if we take his OBP since the 2018 season (.308) he is still 19th on the all-time list. Let’s not confuse Baez with Derek Jeter here. He doesn’t hit for a very high average and he doesn’t get on-base at a high rate. He does hit for some power and he runs with reckless abandon on the base-paths.

Slugging

• Ernie Banks (1953-1971): .500
• Javier Baez (2014-Present): .473

See what I mean! Dude crushes. He’s like Big Pun, except he is a player that crushes a lot. While his lifetime .473 is second all-time, if we take only his stats from 2018 and on, his .514 would rank as first all-time. Since OBP is the second part of OPS, he only ranks third all-time with a .777 OPS (or with his .821 since the 2018 season).

wRC+

• Bill Dahlen (1891-1898): 119
• Ernie Banks (1953-1971): 118
• Ned Williamson (1879-1890): 116
• Charlie Hollocher (1918-1924): 112
• John Peters (1874-1877, 1879): 106
• Woody English (1927-1936): 101
• Javier Baez (2014-Present): 101

Coming in at seventh here is pretty accurate. He has had five below average MLB seasons, while only posting two above average seasons. His 2020 season (which, I’ve said countless times should not be heavily weighed in overall skill conversations) was the third-worst season in baseball this season.

Third Base – Kris Bryant

Kris Bryant’s stats might surprise you. I have said for a number of years now that Bryant has put up numbers that rank near, or better than most Cubs Hall of Fame level players. People continue to suggest he’s fallen off, yet there are things like – THIS INFORMATION AVAILABLE. So… here we go.

Batting average

• Bill Madlock (1974-1976): .336
• Heinie Zimmerman (1907-1916): .304
• Stan Hack (1932-1947): .301
• Aramis Ramirez (2003-2011): .294
• Bernie Friberg (1919-1925): .290
• Howard Freigau (1925-1927): .283
• Kris Bryant (2015-Present): .280

Bryant is seventh on the Cubs all-time list in terms of batting average. Now, like I mentioned before (I have not looked at the rest of his career rankings as of yet, so I might be surprised) getting on base and what happens when you hit the ball are much more important than your batting average.

On Base Percentage

• Bill Madock (1974-1976): .397
• Stan Hack (1932-1947): .394
• Kris Bryant (2015-Present): .380

While I didn’t know Bryant was third on this list before I looked, I knew he was in the top five. Similar to Rizzo, Bryant has clearly performed as one of the best offensive players this franchise has ever seen. Like, seriously… ever seen. The idea that he is overrated is simply a dumb baseball thought.

Slugging Percentage

• Aramis Ramirez (2003-2011): .531
• Kris Bryant (2016-Present): .508

Again, Bryant is one of the Cubs best power hitters – regardless of what your opinion of him is – since he has been a Cub. The numbers don’t lie here. Even if we were to only use his 2018 through 2020 results, his .478 SLG would STILL rank as the second-highest SLG% in Cubs history (3B), topping Madlock (.475) by three percentage points. Of course, those seasons have also seen an uptick in injury and he has sat out games for the first time in his career due to injury over that time.

This also means, Kris Bryant has the highest OPS of ANY. CUBS. THIRD BASEMAN. EVER. I can admit… that pleases me.

wRC+

• Bill Madlock (1974-1976): 137
• Kris Bryant (2015-Present): 136

This list has taught me a couple of things. The pre-1900 Cubs were incredible! (I am not saying Madlock was pre-1900, I’m suggesting in general as many players continue to show up on these lists). Aramis Ramirez was an incredible talent, which his era probably pushed him down quite a bit. The Cubs have had far too many random players that have gone relatively unnoticed for their performance. And Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant are the most prolific offensive duo the organization has EVER had.

Sure there are nods to Evers-Tinker-Chance, Billy Williams and Ernie Banks, and even Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez (possibly Moises Alou and Sammy Sosa?), but the numbers continue to point to Bryzzo as being the most formidable duo.

Leftfield – Kyle Schwarber

Say what you will, Kyle Schwarber has been pointed out as one of the Cubs core players since the 2015 season. He was drafted to be a pillar, and while there has been up and down offensive production, he deserves to be rated among the other four.

Batting Average

• Riggs Stephenson (1926-1934): .336
• Hack Miller (1922-1925): .324
• Chuck Klein (1934-1936): .297
• Jose Cardenal (1972-1977): .296
• Billy Williams (1959-1974): .296
• Abner Dalrymple (1879-1886): .295
• Turner Barber (1917-1922): .292
• Dwight Smith (1989-1993): .285
• Ralph Kiner (1953-1954): .284
• Walt Wilmot (1891-1895): .284
• George Van Haltren (1887-1889): .284
• Moises Alou (2002-2004): .283
• Derrick May (1990-1994): .282
• Lou Novikoff (1941-1944): .282
• Jack McCarthy (1900, 1903-1905): .279
• Richie Ashburn (1960-1961): .279
• Dave Kingman (1978-1980): .278
• Peanuts Lowery (1942-1943, 1945-1948): .278
• Augie Galan (1934-1941): .277
• Bobby Thomson (1958-1959): .274
• Larry Biittner (1976-1980): .273
• Frank Schulte (1904-1916): .272
• Henry Rodriguez (1998-2000): .272
• Walt Moryn (1956-1960): .272
• Cliff Carroll (1890-1891): .272
• Dom Dallessandro (1940-1947): .270
• Hank Sauer (1949-1955): .269
• Les Mann (1916-1919): .269
• Jimmy Slagle (1902-1908): .268
• Gary Matthews (1984-1978): .266
• John Glenn (1874-1877): .266
• Chris Coghlan (2013-2015, 2016): .264
• Alfonso Soriano (2007-2013): .264
• Jimmy Sheckard (1906-1912): .257
• Doug Dascenzo (1988-1992): .240
• Kyle Schwarber (2015-Present): .230

So… he comes in at 37th all-time. That’s one hell of a list and I have to admit, I thought about not including any of the names at least 10 times as I typed it out. But, I also thought it was fun reminiscing about some players that popped up – good or bad. Like my guy, Derrick May. I thought that dude was going to be the next Barry Bonds. While he had a nice swing, apparently you need otherworldly talent to also bat the ball to consistently make it go over people’s heads.

On Base Percentage

• Rigg Stephenson (1926-1934): .408
• Richie Ashburn (1960-1961): .400
• Ralph Kiner (1953-1954): .381
• Gary Matthews (1984-1978): .381
• Jimmy Sheckard (1906-1912): .374
• Dom Dallessandro (1940-1947): .270
• Chuck Klein (1934-1936): .366
• Billy Williams (1959-1974): .364
• Jose Cardenal (1972-1977): .363
• Augie Galan (1934-1941): .363
• Hack Miller (1922-1925): .362
• George Van Haltren (1887-1889): .361
• Jimmy Slagle (1902-1908): .356
• Moises Alou (2002-2004): .353
• Chris Coghlan (2013-2015, 2016): .351
• Hank Sauer (1949-1955): .348
• Henry Rodriguez (1998-2000): .348
• Turner Barber (1917-1922): .347
• Walt Wilmont (1891-1895): .346
• Cliff Carroll (1890-1891): .346
• Walt Moryn (1956-1960): .344
• Dwight Smith (1989-1993): .341
• Bobby Thomson (1958-1959): .339
• Dave Kingman (1958-1959): .338
• Peanuts Lowery (1942-1943, 1945-1948): .336
• Kyle Schwarber (2015-Present): .336

I think the only reason Schwarber ranks 26th and not 25th is someone wanted to type Peanuts Lowery. I mean, what a name! Schwarber, while billed as a professional hitter, has been able to maintain an OBP 100 points higher than his average. The unfortunate part is, his average hovers around .230 while his OBP is pretty respectable. This is just me, but I feel that if Kyle was more aggressive with the bat, both his AVG and OBP would naturally increase. He might not maintain that 100 point difference, but increasing that average will likely increase all numbers.

Slugging Percentage

• Dave Kingman (1958-1959): .569
• Henry Rodriguez (1998-2000): .534
• Hank Sauer (1949-1955): .512
• Ralph Kiner (1953-1954): .505
• Billy Williams (1959-1974): .503
• Chuck Klein (1934-1936): .497
• Alfonso Soriano (2007-2013): .495
• Hack Miller (1922-1925): .492
• Moises Alou (2002-2004): .484
• Kyle Schwarber (2015-Present): .480

Schwarber ranks 10th all-time in slugging among left fielders. Slugging is an important stat for either corner outfielder position and to sit 10th all-time is an accomplishment. There are some legitimate boppers on this list, and he sits at 10th in slugging and in OPS.

wRC+

• Dave Kingman (1958-1959): 136
• Billy Williams (1959-1974): 134
• Riggs Stephenson (1926-1934): 133
• Chuck Klein (1934-1936): 130
• Ralph Kiner (1953-1954): 127
• Gary Matthews (1984-1978): 125
• Hank Sauer (1949-1955): 124
• Abner Dalrymple (1879-1886): 123
• Henry Rodriguez (1998-2000): 120
• Hack Miller (1922-1925): 119
• Dom Dallessandro (1940-1947): 118
• Jimmy Sheckard (1906-1912): 118
• Chris Coghlan (2013-2015, 2016): 118
• Moises Alou (2002-2004): 117
• Frank Schulte (1904-1916): 115
• Jose Cardenal (1972-1977): 115
• Kyle Schwarber (2015-Present): 113

Like finishing 10th in OPS, finishing 17th in wRC+ is an accomplishment for a corner outfielder. I mean, there are legit names on this list (along with some funny ones). What is interesting is, if we “qualify” this list representing his of plate appearances (2,000), Schwarber finds himself as:

• Batting AVG: 16th
• OBP: 12th
• SLG: 4th
• OPS: 4th
• wRC+: 9th

In fact, qualifying all these guys, it improves all their numbers (and is likely the right thing to do).

Contreras (1,500 PA):

• AVG: 6th
• OBP: 4th
• SLG: 3rd
• OPS: 4th
• wRC+: 3rd

Rizzo (5,000):

• AVG: 6th
• OBP: 4th
• SLG: 2nd
• OPS: 1st
• wRC+: 3rd

Baez (2,500 PA):

• AVG: 10th
• OBP: 12th
• SLG: 2nd
• OPS: 3rd
• wRC+: 5th

Bryant (3,000 PA):

• AVG: 5th
• OBP: 2nd
• SLG: 2nd
• OPS: 1st
• wRC+: 1st

This is why I sorta laugh when fans suggest that these players aren’t good, or don’t cut it. They have, they do, and they are a part of the best core of players this organization has ever seen. There are some questions with this, like, why do they struggle in the playoffs (ahem, small sample size), or down the stretch the past three seasons (maybe small sample, but who knows). Regardless, these guys should be applauded for what they have done – not knocked down with ignorant statements of, “they don’t deserve $xxx per year.”

All-Time

As a last check, I wanted to take a look at the current guy’s stats verse all players (minimum 1,500 plate appearances).

Average

• Kris Bryant – 50th .280
• Anthony Rizzo – 64th .274
• Ben Zobrist – 77th .269
• Willson Contreras – 88th .265
• Javier Baez – 91st .264
• Jason Heyward – 110th .253
• Kyle Schwarber – 131st .230

OBP

• Kris Bryant – 13th .380
• Anthony Rizzo – 16th .374
• Ben Zobrist – 36th .362
• Willson Contreras – 50th .351
• Kyle Schwarber – 75th . 336
• Jason Heyward – 77th .332
• Javier Baez – 115th .304

SLG%

• Kris Bryant – 6th .508
• Anthony Rizzo – 11th .492
• Kyle Schwarber – 18th .480
• Javier Baez – 20th .473
• Willson Contreras – 26th .463
• Ben Zobrist – 58th .411
• Jason Heyward – 81st .388

OPS

• Kris Bryant – 5th .889
• Anthony Rizzo – 11th .866
• Kyle Schwarber – 31st .816
• Willson Contreras – 32nd .814
• Javier Baez – 47th .777
• Ben Zobrist – 49th .774
• Jason Heyward – 80th .721

wRC+

• Kris Bryant – 7th 136
• Anthony Rizzo – 13th 133
• Willson Contreras – 42nd 116
• Kyle Schwarber – 48th 113
• Ben Zobrist – 59th 109
• Javier Baez – 76th 101
• Jason Heyward – 95th 93

I won’t tell you how to fan, but this is why when you complain about certain players a lot of others scoff. While, yes, the core has not won a second World Series – but – they have continued to compete and put the Cubs organization in the position to compete.

These guys should be applauded for what they did. Let’s not wait for them to be moved (as what is rumored with nearly every name on this list) and let’s start applauding what they gave to this fanbase, and applaud the incredible results they’ve put up. This is the golden era of Cubs baseball, and it is due to these guys.