When the Cubs needed someone to step up and take hold of a rotation spot, Javier Assad has answered the call and excelled.
Early in the season as the Cubs were having their ups and downs, there was always one constant. That was the starting rotation. Between Stroman, Steele, Smyly, and eventually Hendricks you were getting quality starts almost every game. You also had Taillon, who was and is terrible but is making too much money not to be starting, closing out the rotation. That left a guy like Javier Assad on the outside looking in.
I’m sure he had to be a bit disappointed as he was very good during his short stint in the Bigs last year, and was also awesome for Mexico in the WBC. Even still, he would make the Opening Day roster, but with little success as he would be up and down from Triple-A a few of times. Assad would sport an unsightly 5.61 ERA after giving up 3 runs against the Giants in Mid-June.
From there on, Assad would start to lock-in. He would give up just two runs over his next 24.1 innings pitched. That would drop Javier Assad’s ERA all the way down to a much cleaner 3.24, which would lead to this all-time sound bite. As he was coming into his own, the Cubs rotation would be starting to falter, and a lot of changes would soon be on the way.
Marcus Stroman, an early season Cy Young candidate and All Star, would become ineffective and land on the IL with what was initially a hip injury that turned into a rib fracture. He now hasn’t thrown a game since the 31st of July. Even before Stroman’s injury, Drew Smyly was beginning to get hit hard. After his five innings scoreless outing in Pittsburgh on June 19th, he would allow at least four runs in seven of his next nine starts with three of them being seven runs. The team knew they needed to make some changes to save the season.
With Javier rolling and fairly well stretched up thanks to being in long relief, he was the man they inserted into the rotation. To say that he has responded well would be a huge understatment. After his most recent gem against the Reds, he has now made 6 starts with a measly 1.95 ERA with just eight earned in 37 innings. He has just two decisions, mostly thanks to a Cubs bullpen having blown three more possible wins for Assad, but the team has went an impressive 5-1 in his starts. The one loss came in the 9th inning collapse in Cincinnati.
So how does he get it done? I’d say his approach is the “kitchen sink” method. He doesn’t have stuff that jumps off the page, but he has a lot of pitches and knows how to use them. He throws a Sinker, Cutter, 4-seamer, Slider, Curveball, Changeup. Baseball Savant has him using those first three at least 20% of the time each.
Against righties, he is mainly sinkers, four-seamers, and sliders. He will dot the bottom and outside part of the play with the sinker, try to run heaters in or up, and use the slider off of those to either get a swing-and-miss or weak roll over contact. Lefties are usually met with mostly cutters and sinkers. He loves to keep the sinker down or front door it to freeze lefties and run cutters in on the hands for weak contact. This pitching ninja video below shows this perfectly.
Javier Assad's 2Ks in the 8th…and is fired up. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/mtPRuOLvUu
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 3, 2023
Another thing Javier Assad has been great since his move to the rotation is that he’s not been afraid to use his defense. When he was coming out the the ‘pen, he was carrying a pretty high walk rate that would get him in trouble at times. Plus, he doesn’t carry a huge K% to make up for it as he sits below league average at just 19%. Since his move to starting, he has averaged less than 2 walks a start. When you have a defense with Nico, Dansby, and Bellinger, it is best to use them. It keeps them engaged and his pitch count down. Doing so has helped him pitch at least seven innings in half of his six starts.
At the most important time of the season, The Cubs needed someone to step up, and Javier Assad answered the call. He pitches with heart and passion He has gone deep into games in a time when so few do. He is a bulldog. Should the Cubs pencil the name “Javier Assad” in to start a playoff game, fans should not only be ok with it, they should feel confident because he has done nothing but deliver for the Northsiders.
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