2020 Chicago Cubs season
The 2020 Chicago Cubs season is the 149th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 145th in the National League and the Cubs' 105th season at Wrigley Field. The Cubs are managed by David Ross, in his first year as Cubs manager, and play their home games at Wrigley Field as members of Major League Baseball's National League Central Division.
On March 12, 2020, MLB announced that because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the start of the regular season would be delayed by at least two weeks in addition to the remainder of spring training being cancelled. Four days later, it was announced that the start of the season would be pushed back indefinitely due to the recommendation made by the CDC to restrict events of more than 50 people for eight weeks. On June 23, commissioner Rob Manfred unilaterally implemented a 60-game season. Players reported to training camps at their home ballparks on July 1 in order to resume spring training and prepare for a July 24 Opening Day. The Cubs opened the season on July 24 against the Milwaukee Brewers and will finish the season on the road against the Chicago White Sox.
Due to the pandemic and the shortened season, Major League Baseball instituted certain rule changes which included the use of a universal designated hitter, a runner on second base to start extra innings, and a revised schedule.
Previous season
The Cubs finished the 2019 season 84–78 to finish in third place in the Central Division. The Cubs failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 2014. The season marked the final year with Joe Maddon as manager of the Cubs.Coaching changes
Prior to the end of the 2019 season, the Cubs announced that Joe Maddon would not return as manager for the Cubs in 2020. On October 24, 2019, the team announced that former Cub David Ross had been hired as the team's next manager. Maddon was later named the manager of the Los Angeles Angels.Third base coach Brian Butterfield and strength and conditioning coach Tim Buss left the Cubs to join Maddon in Anaheim. Former San Diego Padres manager Andy Green was hired as bench coach. Craig Driver was hired to coach first base with Will Veneble moving to coach third. The Cubs also added Mike Napoli and Chris Young.
Television broadcasts
The season will mark the debut season for the team's new cable television network, the Marquee Sports Network, which will debut in February 2020. All Cubs games, except for those subject to national broadcasts, will be aired on Marquee. Previously, Cubs games were split between NBC Sports Chicago, WGN-TV, and ABC 7.Offseason
Rule changes
For the 2020 season, MLB instituted several new rule changes including the following:- Single trade deadline – there will no longer be a waiver trade deadline later in the year.
- 26-man roster – rosters will expand from 25 players, but no team may carry more than 13 pitchers.
- Three-batter minimum for pitchers - a pitcher must face three batters in a game before they can be removed unless there is an injury or the end of an inning.
Transactions
October 2019
SourceNovember 2019
SourceDecember 2019
SourceJanuary 2020
SourceFebruary 2020
SourceRegular season
Game log
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the regular season was shortened to 60 games with teams playing 10 games against each other member of their division while also playing four games against each team in the corresponding division in the other league. The Cubs will, therefore, play 10 games against each team in their division and four games against each team in the American League Central Division. On July 6, 2020, MLB announced the Cubs 60-game schedule which will begin on July 24 and end on September 27.Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Opening Day starters
Season summary
June
- June 23 – The league instituted to a shortened 60-game season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Spring Training began on July 1 with the first games to begin on July 23 and 24.
July
- July 1 – Cubs players report to Wrigley Field for testing ahead of summer camp and 60-game schedule.
- July 6 – The Cubs have no players test positive for COVID-19 and are believed to be the only team in the National League without any positive tests.
- July 13 – David Ross and five other "Tier 1 individuals" missed morning workouts due to delayed COVID-19 tests.
- July 16 – The Cubs announced that Kyle Hendricks will be the opening day starting pitcher on July 24 against the Milwaukee Brewers, marking the first time Hendricks would make an opening day start in his career.
- July 24 – On the latest Opening Day in MLB history, Kyle Hendricks pitched a complete game shutout as the Cubs beat the Milwaukee Brewers 3–0 at Wrigley Field. It marked the first complete game shutout by a Cub pitcher on opening day since 1974. Ian Happ hit a two-run homer in the third and Anthony Rizzo added a solo shot in the eighth for the Cubs in the win.
- July 25 – In game two of the opening series against the Brewers, Yu Darvish pitched only four innings and allowed three runs. A two-run homer by Kyle Schwarber brought the Cubs within one in the fifth, but the Cub bullpen struggled surrendering five runs in four innings of work as the Cubs lost 8–3.
- July 26 – Tyler Chatwood pitched well, giving up only one run on three hits in six innings. Meanwhile, Willson Contreras homered and drove in two runs while Ian Happ added a two-run homer and drove in three on the day. Anthony Rizzo hit a solo home run as well as the Cubs blew out the Brewers 9–1.
- July 27 – The Cubs traveled to Cincinnati to face the Reds for a four-game series. Jon Lester pitched well, throwing five innings of a no-hit ball before being lifted after throwing 76 pitches. Meanwhile the Cub offense continued its hot start to the season, scoring six runs in the first two innings. David Bote and Steven Souza Jr. drove in two runs apiece and Anthony Rizzo hit his third homer in four games as the Cubs took a 7–0 lead. However, the Cub bullpen continued its struggles, surrendering five runs prior to the ninth. Craig Kimbrel entered in the ninth with an 8–5 lead, but walked four and hit a batter to force in two runs while only getting one out. Jeremy Jeffress was summoned to record the final two outs of the game with the bases loaded as the Cubs held on for the 8–7 win.
- July 28 – Javier Báez had three hits and homered twice while driving in three runs game two of the series against the Reds. David Bote added a home run and Nico Hoerner drove in two runs as the Cubs beat the Reds 8–5. Alec Mills pitched well, allowing only two runs on two hits in six innings. The Cub bullpen did surrender three runs as it continued to struggle, but it was not enough for the Reds. The win moved the Cubs into sole possession of first place early in the season.
- July 29 – Kyle Hendricks could not duplicate his opening day start, giving up six runs in 4.1 innings of work as the Cubs fell behind 7–0. The Cub bullpen continued to struggle, preventing any chance at a comeback by surrendering a grand slam and giving up six runs in 3.2 innings. Kris Bryant drove in two runs and David Bote hit a two-run homer, but it was not enough as the Cubs were routed 12–7. The Cubs did turn a triple play in the eighth inning when Bryant caught a line drive, stepped on third, and threw to first with the bases loaded in the eighth. Replays showed that the ball likely hit the ground before Bryant caught it.
- July 31 – After a rainout of the final game of the Reds' series, the Cubs returned home to face the Pittsburgh Pirates. Jason Heyward and Anthony Rizzo drove in two runs each and Jason Kipnis homered to give the Cubs a 6–1 lead. Yu Darvish pitched six scoreless innings while the Cub bullpen, especially Craig Kimbrel, struggled again. In the ninth, Kimbrel gave up two solo home runs to narrow the lead to 6–3, but was able to get the final three outs as the Cubs won 6–3.
August
- August 1 – In game two versus the Pirates, Tyler Chatwood pitched 6.2 innings of scoreless baseball. Jeremy Jeffress relieved and pitched 1.1 of innings of perfect baseball. Javier Báez and Ian Happ hot solo home runs while Kyle Schwarber added a two-run homer in the eighth to extend the Cub lead 4–0. In the ninth, Kyle Ryan surrendered three runs to bring the Pirates within one run, but Rowan Wick got the final two outs to hold on for the 4–3 win.
Transactions
June
SourceJuly
SourceRoster
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting proposed shortened season, teams will start the season with a 30-man roster. The rosters will reduce to 28 after two weeks and then to the new-normal roster size of 26 after that.Statistics
Regular season
Batting
'Players in bold' are on the active roster.
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases; BB = Walks; K = Strikeouts; Avg. = Batting average; OBP = On Base Percentage; SLG = Slugging Percentage''
| Player | |||||||||||||||
| ' | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .000 | .333 | .000 | 0 |
| ' | 5 | 22 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 | .273 | .333 | .636 | 14 |
| ' | 3 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .500 | .556 | 1.000 | 8 |
| ' | 4 | 17 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | .059 | .158 | .059 | 1 |
| ' | 4 | 13 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .308 | .357 | .385 | 5 |
| ' | 4 | 14 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 7 | .357 | .438 | .714 | 10 |
| ' | 5 | 16 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 6 | .188 | .235 | .563 | 9 |
| ' | 4 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | .154 | .267 | .154 | 2 |
| ' | 4 | 14 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .357 | .333 | .429 | 6 |
| ' | 3 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .375 | .375 | .750 | 6 |
| ' | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .000 | .500 | .000 | 0 |
| ' | 5 | 16 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 5 | .250 | .500 | .813 | 13 |
| ' | 5 | 17 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | .235 | .350 | .471 | 8 |
| ' | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .200 | .200 | .400 | 2 |
Pitching
Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts
| Player | ||||||||||||
| ' | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| ' | 1 | 0 | 1.50 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
| ' | 0 | 1 | 6.75 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4.0 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 5 |
| ' | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| ' | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| ' | 0 | 0 | 54.00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| ' | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| ' | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| ' | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| ' | 0 | 0 | 20.25 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.1 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| ' | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| ' | 0 | 0 | 6.75 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| ' | 0 | 0 | 13.50 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| ' | 0 | 0 | 16.20 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| ' | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 0 | 0 | 18.00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | |
| ' | 0 | 0 | 27.00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
Source
Farm system
On June 30, it was announced that the 160 minor league baseball teams' seasons were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This marked the first time in the history of Minor League Baseball that a season had been canceled.| Level | Team | League | Manager | Location | Ballpark |
| AAA | Iowa Cubs | Pacific Coast League | Marty Pevey | Des Moines, Iowa | Principal Park |
| AA | Tennessee Smokies | Southern League | Michael Ryan | Knoxville, Tennessee | Smokies Stadium |
| A | Myrtle Beach Pelicans | Carolina League | Steven Lerud | Myrtle Beach, South Carolina | TicketReturn.com Field |
| A | South Bend Cubs | Midwest League | Buddy Bailey | South Bend, Indiana | Four Winds Field at Coveleski Stadium |
| A-Short Season | Eugene Emeralds | Northwest League | Lance Rymel | Eugene, Oregon | PK Park |
| Rookie | AZL Cubs 1 | Arizona League | Jimmy Gonzalez | Mesa, Arizona | Sloan Park |
| Rookie | AZL Cubs 2 | Arizona League | Mesa, Arizona | Sloan Park | |
| Rookie | DSL Cubs 1 | Dominican Summer League | Leo Perez | Boca Chica, Dominican Republic | Baseball City Complex |
| Rookie | DSL Cubs 2 | Dominican Summer League | Carlos Ramirez | Boca Chica, Dominican Republic | Baseball City Complex |
Source
Major League Baseball draft
The 2020 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft occurred on Monday, June 10 through June 11, 2020. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the draft was shortened to only five rounds.| 2020 Chicago Cubs complete draft list | - | - | - | - | - | - |