How Are the Ex-Cubs doing? – 4/28

A semi-regular feature showing how former Cub players are doing.

The last two weeks saw the return of Carl Edwards Jr. and the brief return of Patrick Wisdom. Elsewhere, there has been cooling off of young hitters and a rocky start for some former relievers.

Ex-Cubs Position players:

#	Name	Team	WAR	PA	HR	OPS	wRC+
1	Ildemaro Vargas	ARI	1.4	82	6	1.104	203
2	Willson Contreras	BOS	1.0	120	6	.830	130
3	Cam Smith	HOU	0.8	115	3	.677	91
4	Cody Bellinger	NYY	0.7	120	3	.730	108
5	Kyle Schwarber	PHI	0.5	125	9	.864	138
6	Jorge Soler	LAA	0.2	113	6	.801	118
7	Kyle Tucker	LAD	0.2	125	3	.684	95
8	Willi Castro	COL	0.2	76	1	.664	75
9	Isaac Paredes	HOU	0.1	98	3	.710	102
10	Joc Pederson	TEX	0.1	77	2	.713	108
11	Javier Báez	DET	0.1	80	2	.695	89
12	Patrick Wisdom	SEA	0.0	1	0	.000	-100
13	Zach McKinstry	DET	-0.1	46	1	.586	62
14	Victor Caratini	MIN	-0.1	88	1	.596	71
15	Owen Caissie	MIA	-0.2	90	2	.609	65
16	Reese McGuire	CHW	-0.2	34	0	.445	35
17	Jeimer Candelario	LAA	-0.4	20	0	.422	18
18	Carlos Santana	ARI	-0.5	26	0	.279	-23
19	Nick Castellanos	SDP	-0.7	55	0	.412	11

After very hot starts by Own Caissie and Cam Smith, the Cubs trade regret All-Stars, both have cooled off considerably. Caissie has a .607 OPS and 65 wRC+, which is well below replacement level. Meanwhile, Smith is a .677 and 91, better but still below league average.

Leading the pack is Ildemaro Vargas, who is having a breakout season at nearly 35 years old. I seems very unlikely this will continue, but who knows?

Meanwhile, names like Contreras, Schwarber and Bellinger are having solid season. Kyle Tucker, on the other hand, is off to a slow start, especially based on expectations.

Bottom on the list is Nick Castellanos, but he did manage to drive in a couple of runs last night against the Cubs.

Nick Castellanos, who many wanted to pick up when he was dumped by the Phillies, currently has a -0.2 WAR and .549 OPS. And poor Patrick Wisdom made his return to the MLB for only one game and one at bat after straining his oblique.

Ex-Cubs Pitchers

#	Name	Team	RA9-WAR	WAR	G	IP	ERA	xERA
1	Michael Soroka	ARI	1.0	0.7	5	27.2	2.60	4.61
2	Aaron Civale	ATH	0.6	0.4	5	25.2	3.86	4.17
3	Aroldis Chapman	BOS	0.5	0.3	9	8.2	1.04	5.11
4	Caleb Kilian	SFG	0.5	0.0	12	12.0	0.75	2.67
5	Jason Adam	SDP	0.4	0.2	8	7.0	1.29	2.35
6	Brooks Raley	NYM	0.4	0.1	11	9.2	1.86	4.51
7	Eli Morgan	KCR	0.2	-0.1	7	10.1	2.61	5.88
8	Carl Edwards Jr.	NYM	0.2	0.1	1	3.1	0.00	2.13
9	Pierce Johnson	CIN	0.1	0.1	14	12.0	3.75	7.77
10	Sean Newcomb	CHW	0.1	0.4	13	16.2	4.32	3.56
11	Brad Keller	PHI	0.1	0.0	12	11.2	3.86	2.60
12	Richard Lovelady	2 Tms	0.1	0.0	11	13.0	2.77	3.22
13	Shawn Armstrong	CLE	0.1	-0.1	12	10.2	4.22	4.78
14	Andrew Kittredge	BAL	0.1	0.0	2	2.0	0.00	0.52
15	Hunter Bigge	TBR	0.0	-0.2	8	8.0	4.50	4.77
16	Anthony Kay	CHW	-0.1	-0.2	6	25.0	6.12	8.14
17	Tommy Nance	TOR	-0.1	0.1	12	12.0	6.00	3.75
18	Taylor Rogers	MIN	-0.2	0.1	12	9.2	6.52	6.63
19	Craig Kimbrel	NYM	-0.2	0.1	5	4.1	6.23	5.48
20	Chris Martin	TEX	-0.3	0.1	8	6.1	7.11	6.81
21	Mark Leiter Jr.	ATH	-0.3	0.0	13	11.2	6.94	5.46
22	Jeremiah Estrada	SDP	-0.4	0.2	7	7.0	5.14	6.36
23	Trevor Megill	MIL	-0.5	0.3	11	10.0	7.20	4.55
24	Drew Pomeranz	LAA	-0.6	-0.4	12	11.1	8.74	6.53
25	Brendon Little	TOR	-1.1	-0.5	5	3.2	24.55	7.22

On the pitching side, there are a couple of guys who were barely with the Cubs, Soroka and Civale, leading the way. Aroldis Chapman has a good ERA, but his expected ERA is quite high.

The interesting thing is how many relievers who, last season, the Cubs probably regretted letting them get away, have really been struggling. Chris Martin, Jeremiah Estrada, Trevor Megill and Brendon Little have been bad. And 2025 Cub standout Drew Pomeranz has an 8.74 ERA with the Angels. Could a reunion be possible with any of them?

A couple of other interesting names on this list: Carl Edward Jr. is back in the big leagues with the Mets and Caleb Kilian has pitched 12 good innings of relief with the Giants. With all the injuries, Kilian might have been a guy the Cubs would love to have in their bullpen with now.