Year in review: Cubs hoping to turn the page on disappointing 2024

The Cubs are hoping 2025 will be a much better year for them.

They went into 2024 with high hopes as well, but an 83-79 record for the second consecutive season left them comfortably out of the playoffs, looking up at a steep climb to catch up with the Brewers, who won the division by 10 games.

“Last year, the shape of the season was disappointing,” president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer reiterated last month. “We felt like we were a little better team than our record. But the goal is to keep pushing.”

New Years is a time for resolutions but also reflection. So, before completely turning the page, let’s review 2024.

The good

Left-hander Shota Imanaga’s season was one of the most positive stories in Chicago sports this year – although the competition for that title wasn’t exactly fierce.

Imanaga’s transition from Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball to MLB was not just a rousing success but a historically impressive start to a major-league career. The 0.84 ERA he owned through his first nine starts was the lowest for any pitcher in the first nine starts of a career, excluding openers, since 1913.

Imanaga never hit a true rookie wall, either, adjusting as the season went on. He finished with a 2.91 ERA in 29 starts, earned an All-Star selection, and was a Top-5 vote-getter for both NL Rookie of the Year and the Cy Young Award.

His performance wasn’t enough to get the Cubs over the playoff hump. But this offseason, in time to make the cut for 2024, the Cubs added another highlight to the list, making a trade that inspired hope for next year.

They acquired All-Start right fielder Kyle Tucker for his last year of club control. And though the Cubs had to give up a lot to secure the deal — sending third baseman Isaac Paredes, right-hander Hayden Wesneski and 2024 first-round draft pick Cam Smith to the Astros — they decided it was worth it to upgrade their offense.

The bad

Major League Baseball as a whole dealt with a rash of injuries last season, especially to pitchers. And the Cubs were not spared.

The back end of their bullpen was hit hard early in the year. Notably, Julian Merryweather made just 15 appearances all season, first sidelined by a shoulder strain and then knee tendinitis. And Adbert Alzolay sustained what turned out to be a season-ending elbow injury in mid-May.

Alzolay underwent Tommy John surgery in August and elected free agency in November after the Cubs designated him for assignment.

Merryweather and Alzolay's absences opened a lane for young relievers like rookie Porter Hodge to make an impact. Hodge posted a 1.88 ERA and nine saves after debuting May 22. But it took a while for the bullpen as a whole to find its rhythm.

The Cubs more nimbly navigated shorter-term injuries to starters, including Jameson Taillon (back strain) and Justin Steele (left hamstring strain, left elbow tendinitis).

Young pitchers such as Jordan Wicks (strained right oblique, rib issue), Ben Brown (neck) and Wesneski (strained right forearm) also missed significant time.

The ugly

Every team goes through ups and downs throughout a season, but the Cubs’ slump in May and June was extreme. From May 13 through July 3, the Cubs went 15-31 and lost all but one of the three-plus game series they played. In that span, only the A’s and Marlins scored fewer runs than the Cubs.

The team’s offensive turnaround late in the year was powered in large part by adjustments made by Pete Crow-Armstrong and Miguel Amaya, two young hitters at the bottom of the order. But the Cubs’ efforts down the stretch fell short for the second straight season — and manager Craig Counsell’s first year at the helm after leaving the Brewers for the division rival 90 miles down the road.

“We should try to be building 90-win teams here,” Counsell said after the Brewers clinched the NL Central. “That’s what you have to do; that’s the playoff standard. That’s what you’ve got to get to be safely in the playoffs, safely in the tournament. So from that perspective, we’ve got a ways to go.”

Closing that gap has been the Cubs’ focus this offseason. And going into the new year, the roster isn’t yet a finished product.