The philosophy that you draft the best bat available and buy pitching on the free market may come to haunt the Cubs in the future.
Most organizations have a balanced approach to player development: you draft both pitchers and hitters high in drafts, and develop all players in the same manner. You use trades and free agency to fill in development gaps on a major league roster. Only a few teams, like the Yankees in the past, have used free agency as the major building blocks for a major league roster.
The myth is that the Cubs's draft strategy was hitter-heavy. More than 47 percent of Theo's Cub draft choices have been pitchers. And the real problem with the Cubs farm system is that it has not developed one starting pitcher in the Theo tenure.
It is possible to draft and develop star pitching talent. Prime example is the White Sox (who have a reverse problem of being unable to draft and consistently develop position players).
The Cubs have relied on a five man rotation. Luckily, the pitchers have not gotten hurt. Adam Warren has made on spot start to give the rotation a day breather, but that did not help much.
If any starter breaks down, there is no help in AAA Iowa.
Pitcher/Games Started/Win-Loss/ERA
Drew Rucsinski 18/5-8/5.83
Jack Buchanan 14/7-5/4.77
Rob Zastryzny 9/42/4.83
Ryan Williams 9/4-1/3.27
Pierce Johnson 9/1-4/7.24
Of the Iowa rotation, Johnson was the former #1 pitching prospect in the organization. But his stock has fallen. Badly.
On the Cubs Top Ten Prospects, only three pitchers are in that list:
#4 Duane Underwood, who is at AA with an 0-5, 4.91 ERA.
#8 Dylan Chase, who is in low A with a 1-0, 3.18 record in 4 starts.
#9 Oscar De La Cruz, who is low A but has not pitched all year.
An objective look at the talent in AAA and the top pitching prospects, the Cubs pitching pantry is pretty barren.
The lack of organizational pitching depth has been a concern for several years. The second half of 2016 may show its glaring weakness affecting a playoff race.
