GLENDALE, Ariz. – Nobody’s suggesting Tyler Chatwood is the savior for a Cubs rotation that needs a big year for the team to return to the playoffs.
But after the team lost Cole Hamels to free agency and added nobody to replace him during the winter, that’s exactly what Chatwood is going to get the chance to be – whether he or anyone wants to think about it like that or not.
Two years after the Cubs jumped the market to sign the hard-throwing starter to a three-year $38 million deal to join the rotation, he looks at least like a guy with a second chance to be an impact addition to the rotation.
“When I signed here three years ago that was the whole point,” said Chatwood, whose historically bad control problems led to a mid-season demotion to the bullpen in 2018, his first year with the team.
“That’s what I did my whole career,” he said of starting for the Angels and Rockies before becoming a free agent. “Last year was tough [in multiple bullpen roles], but the way I pitched at the end of the year I feel like set me up for a good year this year, and I’m excited to have that.”
Chatwood, 30, never has been confused with a command guy like, say, a Kyle Hendricks. But until 2018 he kept the walks down just enough that his heavy velocity and breaking stuff compensated.
He missed all of 2015 because of Tommy John surgery the previous summer – the second for a right-hander who also had the reconstructive elbow surgery in high school.
As he fought back to realign his mechanics and rediscover his feel, his walk rate rose in successive years until spiraling out of control in 2018 (8.2 per nine innings).
It’s a big reason Hamels became a necessary acquisition for a playoff contender in the first place that summer – and why the Cubs felt compelled to exercise Hamels’ 2019 option.
But that four-time All-Star and his considerable shadow are gone, opening a wide berth for Chatwood to get one last shot to be the impact free agent the Cubs thought they signed in December 2017.
Pitching coach Tommy Hottovy essentially said the fifth-starter job is Chatwood’s to lose as camp opened. His primary competitors for the job are right-hander Alec Mills, who thrived in multiple roles last year and could be a bullpen fit, and rookie Adbert Alzolay, who figures to fit best as a depth starter at Class AAA, where his workload can best be monitored as well.
And Chatwood, who pitched a scoreless inning against the Dodgers Sunday in his spring debut, might be in the best condition and mindset to finally reach for his ceiling as a Cub.
“I think that bad year really helped me,” he said. “It could go one of two ways. You could sulk on it and feel bad for yourself or you go back to basics and rebuild some stuff, fine-tune it. Last year was kind of the base of that. And this offseason I was able to build on that.
“I feel like this is the best spot I’ve ever been in, mechanics, throwing and everything.”
Chatwood went 5-3 with a 3.76 last season in 38 appearances that included five spot starts and relief appearances ranging from one to four innings at a time (with two saves along the way).
He called it the “most physically challenging” season of his career. It also was a season in which he cut his walk rate nearly in half and kept his mechanics in check enough to produce.
“I feel like I proved enough that maybe we can get back to that [original] plan,” he said of rejoining the rotation – maybe even providing a needed boost.
“There’s still a lot of untapped potential,” said Chatwood, who might not find a better time to tap it all than this contract year – for himself and for the team.
