The Baseball Scholar

Chicago Cubs Best Single Seasons

Dave Franks
1–2 minutes

These are the greatest individual seasons in Chicago Cubs history, broken down by player and position. Since we’re celebrating standout seasons, players can show up multiple times especially if they logged meaningful time at different spots on the field. Outfielders and pitchers may also appear for multiple seasons when those performances rank as the franchise’s best at their respective positions.

Catcher

  • Rick Wilkins – 1993

    Rick Wilkins Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    6.6 144 136 500 446 78 135 23 1 30 73 50 99 2 1 .303 .376 .561 .937

    • First Base

  • Derrek Lee – 2005

    Derrek Lee Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    7.7 170 158 691 594 120 199 50 3 46 107 85 109 15 3 .335 .418 .662 1.080

    • Second Base

  • Rogers Hornsby – 1929HOFMVP

    Rogers Hornsby Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    10.6 172 156 712 602 156 229 47 8 39 149 87 65 2 .380 .459 .679 1.139

    • Third Base

  • Ron Santo – 1964HOF

    Ron Santo Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    8.9 164 161 686 592 94 185 33 13 30 114 86 96 3 4 .312 .398 .564 .962

    • Shortstop

  • Ernie Banks – 1959HOFMVP

    Ernie Banks Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    10.2 147 155 671 589 97 179 25 6 45 143 64 72 2 4 .304 .374 .596 .970

    • Outfield

  • Sammy Sosa – 2001

    Sammy Sosa Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    10.3 186 160 711 577 146 189 34 5 64 160 116 153 0 2 .328 .437 .737 1.174

    • Outfield

  • Billy Williams – 1965HOF

    Billy Williams Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    7.7 155 164 719 645 115 203 39 6 34 108 65 76 10 1 .315 .377 .552 .929

    • Outfield

  • Billy Williams – 1972HOF

    Billy Williams Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    6.2 170 150 650 574 95 191 34 6 37 122 62 59 3 1 .333 .398 .606 1.005

    • Starting Pitcher

  • Jake Arrieta – 2015Cy Young

    Jake Arrieta Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    8.3 45 33 33 22 6 1.77 229 4 3 0 52 45 48 236 27.1% 0.86

    • Starting Pitcher

  • Dick Ellsworth – 1963

    Dick Ellsworth Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    10.2 61 37 37 22 10 2.11 290.2 19 4 0 75 68 75 185 15.9% 1.03

    • Starting Pitcher

  • Greg Maddux – 1992HOFCy Young

    Greg Maddux Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    9.1 61 35 35 20 11 2.18 268 9 4 0 68 65 70 199 18.8% 1.01

    • Starting Pitcher

  • Grover Alexander – 1920HOF

    Grover Alexander Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    11.9 61 46 40 27 14 1.91 363.1 33 7 5 96 77 69 173 12.0% 1.11

    • Starting Pitcher

  • Rick Reuschel – 1977

    Rick Reuschel Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    9.5 65 39 37 20 10 2.79 252 8 4 1 84 78 74 166 16.1% 1.22

    • Relief Pitcher

  • Bruce Sutter – 1977HOF

    Bruce Sutter Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    6.5 31 62 0 7 3 1.34 107.1 0 0 31 21 16 23 129 31.4% 0.86

    • Relief Pitcher

  • Craig Kimbrel – 2021

    Craig Kimbrel Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    2.4 12 39 0 2 3 0.49 36.2 0 0 23 6 2 13 64 46.7% 0.71

    • Relief Pitcher

  • Lee Smith – 1983HOF

    Lee Smith Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    4.8 43 66 0 4 10 1.65 103.1 0 0 29 23 19 41 91 22.0% 1.07

    • Honorable Mention

  • Catcher – Gabby Hartnett, 1937
  • First Base – Frank Chance, 1906
  • Second Base – Ryne Sandberg, 1984
  • Third Base – Ron Santo, 1967
  • Shortstop – Ernie Banks, 1958
  • Outfield – Hack Wilson, 1930
  • Outfield – Sammy Sosa, 1998
  • Outfield – Andy Pafko, 1950
  • Starting Pitcher – Fergie Jenkins, 1971
  • Starting Pitcher – Jack Taylor, 1902
  • Starting Pitcher – Bill Hands, 1969
  • Starting Pitcher – Ed Reulbach, 1905
  • Starting Pitcher – Mordecai Brown, 1909
  • Relief Pitcher – Les Lancaster, 1989
  • Relief Pitcher – Carlos Marmol, 2007

    • All underlying data used in this analysis is available in The Baseball Scholar Data Library.

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