Chicago Cubs: I’m sorry, Kyle Ryan

The Chicago Cubs have been riding something of a roller coaster this year. One of the reasons has been a rather mercurial and maddeningly inconsistent bullpen.

There was a time when Chicago Cubs Kyle Ryan happened to be a part of it. Now?

He’s become a man with a very particular set of skills and he’s become one of Joe Maddon’s go-to’s.

Earlier this season, every time Ryan would toe the rubber, I pretty much expected that the wheels would come off or (if the Cubs were getting shelled), he wouldn’t stop the bleeding. Maybe it was his upper 80’s “gas” out of the ‘pen. Maybe it was that I was concerned that his stuff was just begging to be sent into outfield seating. Every time he trotted out of the bullpen, I was nervous.

There is something that I do need to get off my chest. With two months left in the regular season, I have flipped:

Kyle Ryan, I am sorry. I was woefully misguided and I was wrong for doubting you.

I was wondering why the Cubs hadn’t made a move to get a lockdown LOOGY just for the likes of Cody Bellinger, Christian Yelich, Freddie Freeman, Bryce Harper, and many others. I figured that Ryan was far from the solution. That they needed an overpowering southpaw to escape jams or someone who could locate pitches if their life depended on it.

However, over the last couple of months, he did everything in his power from forcing the club to make a splash move at the trade deadline.

Mission accomplished.

This season, Ryan has an elite groundball rate at 57.9 percent (courtesy of FanGraphs). That’s good enough for 11th in the majors as of this writing. Not too bad. It’s a few ticks better when next to his teammate, Brandon Kintzler, someone who’s seen as a “groundball specialist” (52.5 percent rate). He’s also had his moment with swings and misses on Saturday against one of the best hitters on the planet:

Now does this mean he’s an elite pitcher? No, because he still has his warts. He’s ranked 84th out of 168 qualified Major League relievers in BABIP (Batting Average On Balls In Play), yielding an average of .286 to batters (also from FanGraphs). So he does give up his fair share of contact and that’s just something that you have to live with. Referring back to FanGraphs once more (hey, it’s a treasure trove of free baseball knowledge), he also is ranked 84th out of 168 qualified relievers when it comes to K/9 (9.21). Strikeouts aren’t his calling card; easy ground outs are.

He does get an assist from his infield every now and then, so these numbers could look far worse on a rebuilding team.

There probably will be moments when newish teammate Derek Holland will get the call against the elite left-handed hitters because of his great numbers against them (.185/.275/.198), but Ryan has found his role within the Cub’s “Jekyll and Hyde” bullpen (which, to be fair, is starting to look more and more like a contender-level group). His release point has given lefties and righties fits, and it doesn’t look like that appears to be changing anytime soon.

Kyle Ryan, I am sorry. You have made me a believer.