National League Central · 2020

Chicago Cubs 2020

34-261st in the NL CentralWrigley FieldNational League Central National League

Team WAR: 12.4
Win %: .567
Run diff: +25
wRC+: 98
ERA: 3.98
Home runs: 73

The Chicago Cubs went 34-26 in 2020, a .567 winning percentage — 9th of 30 record in baseball. They scored 265 runs and allowed 240, a run differential of +25. The offence ranked 20th of 30 in MLB for runs scored, while their 3.98 staff ERA was 10th of 30. Their 98 team wRC+ was 2% below league average — 16th of 30 in MLB. Ian Happ led the position players at 1.6 WAR, and Yu Darvish the rotation at a 2.01 ERA.

The 2020 season

Month by month, the streaks, and the record in the games that are argued about.

They finished first in the NL Central, 3 games clear. They spent 65 of 66 days in first place, led by as many as 5.5 games on August 13 and were as far as 1 game back on July 25. Their best month was August at 15-12, their worst Sept/Oct at 14-12. The longest runs were a 6-game winning streak from July 31 to August 5 and a 4-game losing streak from August 14 to August 17. They were 17-13 at home and 17-13 on the road, 10-9 in one-run games and 19-14 against clubs that finished .500 or better. The most lopsided win was 12-0 at the Brewers on September 13; the heaviest defeat, 13-2 at the Royals on August 6.

Record by month. March games count toward April, October’s toward September.
Month	W	L	Pct	RS	RA	Diff
July	5	2	.714	44	36	+8
August	15	12	.556	117	112	+5
Sept/Oct	14	12	.538	104	92	+12

Splits. Extra innings are blank for a season whose games predate the innings count.
Games	W-L	Pct
Home	17-13	.567
Road	17-13	.567
One-run games	10-9	.526
Extra innings	3-1	.750
Within the division	22-18	.550
Against .500+ clubs	19-14	.576
Decided by 5+ runs	10-8	.556
Last 10	4-6	.400

National League Central standings, 2020

Final standings. The division page has the rest of its season.

National League Central, 2020. Games back of the best record in the division.
Team	W	L	Pct	GB	RS	RA	Diff	WAR
Chicago Cubs	34	26	.567	—	265	240	+25	12.4
St. Louis Cardinals	30	28	.517	3	240	229	+11	8.4
Cincinnati Reds	31	29	.517	3	243	243	0	13.4
Milwaukee Brewers	29	31	.483	5	247	264	-17	11.9
Pittsburgh Pirates	19	41	.317	15	219	298	-79	1.9

2020 Chicago Cubs roster

The players whose season belongs to this club, by position and then by dbWAR. A player traded mid-season is listed with the club he played most of his games for, so a deadline arrival may appear on his other club’s page instead.

Catchers 2

Willson ContrerasC · 57 G · 1.1 WAR
Victor CaratiniC · 43 G · 0.1 WAR

Infielders 7

Jason Kipnis2B · 43 G · 0.6 WAR
Anthony Rizzo1B · 58 G · 0.6 WAR
David Bote3B · 42 G · 0.4 WAR
Kris Bryant3B · 34 G · 0.1 WAR
Patrick Wisdom1B · 2 G · -0.1 WAR
Nico Hoerner2B · 45 G · -0.1 WAR
Javier BáezSS · 58 G · -0.1 WAR

Outfielders 7

Ian HappLF · 56 G · 1.6 WAR
Jason HeywardRF · 50 G · 1.5 WAR
Kyle SchwarberLF · 59 G · 0.3 WAR
Cameron MaybinRF · 32 G · 0.1 WAR
Steven Souza Jr.RF · 11 G · -0.1 WAR
Hernán PérezLF · 3 G · -0.1 WAR
Albert Almora Jr.CF · 19 G · -0.1 WAR

Designated hitters 1

Josh PhegleyDH · 11 G · -0.2 WAR

Starting pitchers 7

Yu Darvish12 GS · 2.8 WAR
Kyle Hendricks12 GS · 1.8 WAR
Adbert Alzolay4 GS · 0.5 WAR
Tyler Chatwood5 GS · 0.5 WAR
Jon Lester12 GS · 0.3 WAR
Alec Mills11 GS · 0.1 WAR
Tyson Miller1 GS · -0.1 WAR

Relief pitchers 17

Rowan Wick19 G · 0.4 WAR
Ryan Tepera21 G · 0.4 WAR
Jose Quintana4 G · 0.2 WAR
Jeremy Jeffress22 G · 0.2 WAR
Jason Adam13 G · 0.2 WAR
Craig Kimbrel18 G · 0.2 WAR
Duane Underwood Jr.17 G · 0.0 WAR
Matt Dermody1 G · 0.0 WAR
Colin Rea9 G · 0.0 WAR
Casey Sadler17 G · 0.0 WAR
James Norwood3 G · -0.0 WAR
Brailyn Marquez1 G · -0.1 WAR
Dan Winkler18 G · -0.1 WAR
Dillon Maples2 G · -0.1 WAR
Brad Wieck1 G · -0.1 WAR
Rex Brothers3 G · -0.1 WAR
Kyle Ryan18 G · -0.4 WAR

Where the offence comes from

Roster contribution by share of the team total.

427 team hits

Each rectangle is a player, sized by his share of the team's hits; darker means a larger share. Top 30 contributors. Select a different statistic above, or click a player for his page.

Batting

18 players, ranked by dbWAR.


Ian Happ	LF	56	231	51	12	28	1	.258	.361	.505	.371	138	1.6
Jason Heyward	RF	50	181	39	6	22	2	.265	.392	.456	.372	139	1.5
Willson Contreras	C	57	225	46	7	26	1	.243	.356	.407	.339	116	1.1
Jason Kipnis	2B	43	135	27	3	16	1	.237	.341	.404	.329	108	0.6
Anthony Rizzo	1B	58	243	45	11	24	3	.222	.342	.414	.329	108	0.6
David Bote	3B	42	145	25	7	29	2	.200	.303	.408	.311	96	0.4
Kyle Schwarber	LF	59	224	36	11	24	1	.188	.308	.393	.309	95	0.3
Kris Bryant	3B	34	147	27	4	11	0	.206	.293	.351	.288	80	0.1
Cameron Maybin	RF	32	101	23	1	7	3	.247	.307	.387	.305	92	0.1
Victor Caratini	C	43	132	28	1	16	0	.241	.333	.328	.300	88	0.1
Alec Mills	PH	1	1	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000	-123	-0.0
Patrick Wisdom	1B	2	2	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000	-123	-0.1
Steven Souza Jr.	RF	11	31	4	1	5	1	.148	.258	.333	.265	63	-0.1
Hernán Pérez	LF	3	6	1	0	0	0	.167	.167	.167	.148	-19	-0.1
Nico Hoerner	2B	45	126	24	0	13	3	.222	.312	.259	.268	66	-0.1
Javier Báez	SS	58	235	45	8	24	3	.203	.238	.360	.257	58	-0.1
Albert Almora Jr.	CF	19	34	5	0	1	0	.167	.265	.200	.226	36	-0.1
Josh Phegley	DH	11	18	1	1	2	0	.063	.167	.250	.191	11	-0.2

Pitching

24 pitchers, ranked by dbWAR.


Yu Darvish	12	12	76.0	8	3	0	93	2.01	2.23	0.96	11.0	2.8
Kyle Hendricks	12	12	81.1	6	5	0	64	2.88	3.55	1.00	7.1	1.8
Adbert Alzolay	6	4	21.1	1	1	0	29	2.95	3.05	1.17	12.2	0.5
Tyler Chatwood	5	5	18.2	2	2	0	25	5.30	3.35	1.66	12.1	0.5
Rowan Wick	19	0	17.1	0	1	4	20	3.12	2.67	1.38	10.4	0.4
Ryan Tepera	21	0	20.2	0	1	0	31	3.92	3.34	1.40	13.5	0.4
Jon Lester	12	12	61.0	3	3	0	42	5.16	5.14	1.33	6.2	0.3
Jose Quintana	4	1	10.0	0	0	0	12	4.50	2.99	1.30	10.8	0.2
Jeremy Jeffress	22	0	23.1	4	1	8	17	1.54	4.09	0.94	6.6	0.2
Jason Adam	13	0	13.2	2	1	0	21	3.29	3.78	1.24	13.8	0.2
Craig Kimbrel	18	0	15.1	0	1	2	28	5.28	3.97	1.43	16.4	0.2
Alec Mills	11	11	62.1	5	5	0	46	4.48	5.44	1.16	6.6	0.1
Duane Underwood Jr.	17	0	20.2	1	0	0	27	5.66	4.74	1.50	11.8	0.0
Matt Dermody	1	0	1.0	0	0	0	1	0.00	1.19	0.00	9.0	0.0
Colin Rea	9	2	14.0	1	1	0	10	5.79	4.98	1.21	6.4	0.0
Casey Sadler	17	0	19.1	1	2	0	21	5.12	4.90	1.40	9.8	0.0
James Norwood	3	0	1.2	0	0	0	0	16.20	4.99	3.00	0.0	-0.0
Brailyn Marquez	1	0	0.2	0	0	0	1	67.50	13.69	7.50	13.5	-0.1
Dan Winkler	18	0	18.1	0	0	0	18	2.95	5.32	1.20	8.8	-0.1
Dillon Maples	2	0	1.0	0	0	0	1	18.00	13.19	5.00	9.0	-0.1
Brad Wieck	1	0	1.0	0	0	0	2	18.00	15.19	2.00	18.0	-0.1
Tyson Miller	2	1	5.0	0	0	0	0	5.40	7.59	1.00	0.0	-0.1
Rex Brothers	3	0	3.1	0	0	0	8	8.10	8.89	1.50	21.6	-0.1
Kyle Ryan	18	0	15.2	1	0	1	11	5.17	7.09	1.40	6.3	-0.4

Attendance

30 home dates played behind closed doors, 2020.

Average: 0
Median: 0
Total: 0
On the road: 0

By situation

Day and night divide the home schedule, and so do weekend and weekday. The road line is a different question.
Split	Games	Avg	Med	Low	High
All home	30	0	0	0	0
Night	22	0	0	0	0
Day	8	0	0	0	0
Weekend	18	0	0	0	0
Weekday	12	0	0	0	0
On the road	30	0	0	0	0

By season

Every home game this season was played with no crowd admitted. The zero is the season, not a missing number — which is why it is shown rather than left out. Seasons before attendance was carried into the lake are absent from the trend rather than shown as zero.

Game time

First pitch to final out across 60 completed games, 2020.

Regulation: 3:04
All games: 3:06
Extra innings: 3:36
Longest: 4:09
Shortest: 2:03

By situation

Regulation and extra innings divide the season, and so do home and road. Day and night overlap both.
Split	Games	Avg	Med	Fastest	Longest
All	60	3:06	3:06	2:03	4:10
Regulation	56	3:04	3:04	2:03	4:09
Extra innings	4	3:36	3:31	3:13	4:10
Home	30	3:08	3:09	2:03	4:09
Road	30	3:05	3:02	2:16	4:10
Day	14	3:09	3:13	2:26	3:37
Night	46	3:06	3:05	2:03	4:10

Through the season

Average completed game by month.
Month	Games	Average
Jul	4	3:14
Aug	14	3:09
Sep	12	3:04

By season

Regulation games only, in minutes. 184 minutes this season.

Elapsed time from first pitch to final out. The feed does not itemise delays, so a rain delay is inside these numbers with no way to subtract it. Games called early are excluded — five innings in ninety-three minutes is not a short game — but they still count in attendance, because the crowd turned up.

Record versus run differential

Chicago Cubs are 34-26, a .567 win rate, while their +25 run differential implies .545. That is about 1 wins ahead of it, usually a mix of bullpen sequencing and one-run luck.