I’m back to continue my argument that the Cubs will still be the team to beat in 2017. I’ll get right to it by continuing my analysis of how the 2017 Cubs will be different from the 2016 version.
Jason Hammel is gone. Assuming Mike Montgomery will be Hammel’s replacement let’s have a look at how they compare. I’ll spare you a table of stats and just say Jason Hammel was a very capable 5th starter in 2016. He made 30 starts and logged 166 2/3 innings. The baseball geeks contend that the most telling and concise stat for pitchers is ERA+ which adjusts for ballpark and is supposed to be a more accurate one number measure of a pitcher’s effectiveness.