Cubs Pitcher of the Month: June 2024

[Brian Kelder]

We're here to break down the month of June for the Cubs. The month was not good, but were there any pitchers who performed well? (Yes!)

June has not been a banner month for Cubs pitching overall. On the surface, the North Siders have allowed a 101 WRC+, 3.98 ERA, and a .238 batting average. They did rack up more than a strikeout per inning pitched, and more than 2.5 strikeouts for each walk.

But the mood around this team is pretty dark right now. The Cubs were 11-16 for the month, which featured almost exclusively teams below .500. For this reason, the award for the Pitcher of the Month will reflect the mood around this team.

Congratulations, Hayden Wesneski!

In his eight appearances in June, Wesneski has been on the receiving end of some extremely tough losses. In five of those appearances, he surrendered six home runs.  In four of these chances, the dinger gave up a hard-earned Cubs lead, resulting in a loss, and in his lone start, he was lit up by the lowly Giants. (July started the same way for him.) Of all the struggles for all of the Cubs, Wesneski was the most consistently damaging at crucial moments. He represents the failure of this team to compete this past month.

If success is what you’re looking for (although not in the wins category, because this guy has zero of them on the season), Justin Steele is the man for June. After a shaky return from injury, Steele has been nails.

In his five June starts, Steele produced a 1.69 ERA and 1.06 WHIP: ace-level numbers.  The control is there; nine walks in 32 innings will get the job done. This also has allowed him to pitch into the seventh inning in four of these starts. In a season with no direction, and a team with no superstars, for this month, at least Steele has performed to that level.

Emblematic of the Cubs' overall struggle to play complete games, the southpaw has been victimized by 12 unearned runs this month. He’s also had terrible help from his offense and bullpen. Two games featured blown saves, and another a blown fuse by the offense. Nevertheless, he persisted, and pitched well enough every game to give the Cubs a chance to win. 

Jameson Taillon also deserves mention this month. His 1-2 with a 3.50 ERA this month is exactly what you would ask for from a pitcher like him. He did fall victim in his last start to a grand salami by the Brewers' Jackson Chourio, and hasn’t pitched as late into games, so Steele gets it, but Taillon had a solid dependable month.

Longtime Cub fans will recall the annual June swoon, and the 2024 season surely featured one of those.  Justin Steele and Jameson Taillon were two of the bright spots for the Cubs in a month sorely in need of one.  We’ll see if they can continue, or if the squad wasted their efforts.

 

Thanks for reading and have a great day.

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