Fun with Cubs Numbers as PCA Stays Hot

With the Cubs enjoying one of an inordinate number of days off here in April, I thought it would be fun to take a look at a few numbers that highlight what the team and its players have done so far. We may only be 16% of the way through the season, but over a month’s worth of games have provided us with a good idea of what is and what can be.

We’ll open and close with some love for Pete Crow-Armstong, who had another big game against the Dodgers and has really come into his own.

“It’s what special players are capable of: impacting all areas of the game,” Craig Counsell said after Wednesday’s win. “Swinging the bat. Power. Baserunning. Defense. It was a wonderful game and he made his presence felt in a big way, for sure.”

30/60
That’s roughly the pace Crow-Armstrong is on for home runs and steals after hitting his fifth and stealing his 10th. While being at 111 plate appearances means he’s probably a little under that trajectory, falling short at 20-25 homers and 50+ steals would still leave him among MLB’s most productive players.

1.8
That’s PCA’s fWAR number, putting him one-tenth of a point behind Corbin Carroll for third in MLB. I’m looking forward to the day when more people stop pointing at his early struggles and embrace the fact that he’s really figured things out.

.623
That’s the Cubs’ strength of schedule as of Thursday, toughest in MLB by 84 points.

.465
That’s the Cubs’ remaining strength of schedule as of Thursday, easiest in MLB by two points.

6
The number of third basemen the Cubs will have used once Nicky Lopez plays there.

.195
The Cubs are tied with the Dodgers for the second-highest aggregate ISO mark, just nine points behind the Yankees, and their .460 slugging percentage is just two points shy of the Bronx Bombers.

4.8
That’s the number of runs above average the Cubs have created on the bases, something we dug into a little more in an earlier piece.

139
Innings pitched by Cubs starters, third in MLB and only 2.2 shy of the Phillies in first.

93.8
The average fastball velocity of a Cubs pitcher, up 1.3 mph from their current full-season high and just one-tenth shy of the overall league average.

.500
Dansby Swanson‘s BABIP since we looked at his streak of bad luck to open the season. He appears to have switched back to a traditional bat, which may be helping. He’s collected six hits over the last five games and looks to be trending up. His batted-ball profile has shifted dramatically away from flies as well, though we’re talking about a very small sample.

$75 million
The minimum guarantee Jed Hoyer should present to PCA if he intends to have meaningful extension talks in the future. Some folks saw that number in reports a few days ago and didn’t realize that likely less than half of it was guaranteed.

I enjoy doing this stuff and would like to keep up with it in the future, so let me know if you find it interesting as well.