‘Guys like that are extremely valuable’ – The Denver Post

Chicago Cubs right-hander Javier Assad typically ends each inning the same way.

He pulls off his sports frames, pops the glasses on the top of his cap and then tips up the brim as he walks toward the Cubs dugout. The sequence more often than not this season has marked a good outing for Assad, answering the call to whatever situation manager David Ross put him in.

The Cubs entered Saturday with varying degrees of odds to make the postseason, ranging as high as 67.3% by FanGraphs to 62.3% by Baseball Reference to 45.3% from Baseball Prospectus. As they’ve steadily climbed back into the playoff hunt the last two months, the emergence of Assad’s versatility and reliability has helped stabilize the bullpen.

“What’s helped me is just staying locked in to the strike zone and executing the pitches to the best of my ability,” Assad told the Tribune through an interpreter. “Just be ready for any situation. The biggest thing for me is staying healthy so talking to the trainers, just working with them and helping me adjust.”

For Assad, who made his second start of the season Saturday against the Atlanta Braves for the injured Marcus Stroman, his six-pitch arsenal provides options if something isn’t working in-game. Assad allowed two runs on five hits in 3 2/3 innings in the Cubs’ 8-6 win.

While he primarily relies on a cutter, sinker and four-seam fastball, his slider generates the type of swing and miss he needs in certain situations.

Assad’s 0.8 bWAR is sixth-best among Cubs pitchers with Adbert Alzolay and Mark Leiter Jr. the only relievers ahead of him. Based on his Context Neutral Wins (WPA/LI), which measures the value a player has provided regardless of leverage, Assad ranks fifth on the staff again only behind Alzolay and Leiter among relievers. While leverage innings and situations are important, Assad also has taken bulk innings that have given the Cubs a chance for a comeback win and lessened the workload for the back end of the bullpen.

He piggybacked in two Jameson Taillon starts in May and kept the games close, throwing five scoreless in a one-run loss at Washington and then allowing two runs in 5 1/3 innings in Taillon’s next start in St. Louis. Assad has been locked in over the last two months, owning a 0.40 ERA — one earned run in 22 1/3 innings — over his last nine appearances.

He played a key role during the Cubs’ eight-game winning streak that propelled them to trade-deadline buyers when he stranded two inherited runners during 1 2/3 scoreless innings as they trailed five runs in their eventual 10-7 comeback win July 26 at the White Sox. He again delivered in a big spot July 29 in St. Louis when he entered with the bases loaded and two outs in the eighth inning and escaped the jam in a 5-2 victory.

“It’s a great example that we can’t always just rely on the same guys over and over and over,” pitching coach Tommy Hottovy told the Tribune. “Other guys have to step up and when you’re given those opportunities, some guys grab them and take advantage of them and don’t let go and other guys will come and go through that moment. Having him step up not only solidified himself in being able to compete at this level but has solidified other people’s roles.

“That’s why to me it’s important to have really complementary pieces because when you have too many square pegs you’re trying to put all those in round holes so now you’ve got oh, there’s this guy that fits right here, now I can do this and start being able to move the pieces around a little bit more.”

Left-hander Drew Smyly understands better than anyone on the Cubs pitching staff of the challenges that come with vacillating between starting and relieving during the course of both a career and season. Smyly, who reached 10 years of service time in 2022, has appeared in 261 games, including 85 out of the bullpen, at points filling both roles in the same season just as Assad has done for the Cubs.

“A lot of guys can’t do it whether it’s an ego thing or it’s a routine thing — everyone is so regimented in how they pitch,” Smyly told the Tribune. “So I really appreciate that because it’s not easy to do and just to be able to go out there whether you’re starting a game or you’re throwing five innings out of the bullpen or you’re coming in with the bases loaded and getting big outs, he takes it and runs with it.

“Guys like that are extremely valuable with the versatility he brings. He hasn’t complained or been like, ‘I should be this’ or ‘I should be that.’ He takes the ball and he does his job.”

The Cubs saw a glimpse of this mentality from Assad during the World Baseball Classic during which Assad was dominant in a multi-inning role for Team Mexico. In nine appearances in 2022 for the Cubs, he started eight games. No matter how Assad is been utilized, Hottovy has been impressed by how he has stayed himself and not tried to change the approach that makes him successful.

“He just continues to go out and pitch and he just doesn’t care, he’s a competitor,” Hottovy said. “He wants to be out there competing in some of the biggest moments and just keeps continuing to perform. He knows what he needs to do and no matter what situation we throw him into, he’s done a fantastic job.”

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