North Side Baseball's Cubs Pitcher of the Month - March/April 2025

[Brandon Glick]

Image courtesy of Thieres Rabelo

The Cubs were one of the best teams in baseball in April, despite losing the first two games of the year against the Dodgers in Tokyo. While their MLB-leading offense had plenty to do with that, their pitching staff also deserves a lot of love for some impressive performances against the hardest schedule in baseball by a significant margin.

You won't see any honorable mentions here, nor will you see any members of the team's much-maligned bullpen. There were three starters who carried the heaviest load in March and April, and they are the ones who we'll be shining the spotlight on here.

#3: Shota Imanaga

March/April Stats: 39.0 IP, 2.77 ERA, 4.88 FIP, 18.9% K-rate, 8.2% BB-rate, .305 wOBA allowed

It was just another ho-hum month for the best pitcher on the Cubs. After finishing fifth in Cy Young voting as a "rookie" last year, the 31-year-old Imanaga continued to dominate hitters in the first month of the 2025 season despite drawing the Dodgers (twice), Diamondbacks, Padres (twice), and Rangers. His splitter remains one of the most valuable pitches in baseball, even as his fastball struggles to get by hitters at 91.2 mph.

His 4.88 FIP is worrisome, and that can be attributed to his declining fastball and awful ground-ball rate (26.3%). He's always been a fly ball pitcher, which is why he must improve on his strikeout and walk rates (both of which are far worse than 2024) if he hopes to limit the damage in the summer. Still, as the schedule eases up, Imanaga should remain the Cubs' best pitcher (once he recovers from his hamstring injury).

#2: Matthew Boyd

March/April Stats: 33 1/3 IP, 2.70 ERA, 3.80 FIP, 20.7% K-rate, 9.0% BB-rate, .331 wOBA allowed

Another guy who outperformed all of his advanced metrics, Boyd is looking like one of the smartest moves ever made by Jed Hoyer's front office. I'd say he was the signing of the offseason, but that would be a disservice to the GOAT, Carson Kelly.

Like Imanaga, Boyd is also working below-average walk, strikeout, and ground-ball rates, but he is proving more adept than ever at limiting hard contact. He sits in the 86th percentile in barrels allowed, and he's not far behind in hard-hit rate and average exit velocity on balls put in play. He made notable changes in his limited time with the Guardians last year, and his fastball, slider, changeup, and curveball are all performing above league-average, according to xwOBA.

#1 (March/April Cubs Cy Young): Colin Rea

March/April Stats: 18 2/3 IP, 0.96 ERA, 1.53 FIP, 25.0% K-rate, 3.9% BB-rate, .248 wOBA allowed

I cannot believe this. I was frustrated with the Colin Rea signing at the time — perhaps irrationally so — mostly because Rea was just another depth option for a team that needed a true No. 1 or No. 2 to pair with Imanaga and Justin Steele. Those feelings were only heightened when Steele went down for the season with an elbow injury.

Well, turns out Rea is even better than the guy he's replacing. He was dominant in the season's first month, authoring a comically-low ERA that is actually supported by a laughable FIP. He walked three guys all month. Yes, the sample size is small (covering just three starts and six total appearances), but he's riding a ridiculous seven-pitch mix to befuddling success. What's really fun about his arsenal is that his four-seam fastball comprises over half of the pitches he throws... while his other six offerings sit somewhere between five and ten percent. Who knows how long he can keep the magic going, but he's proving to be another astute signing by Hoyer and company.

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What do you think about our list? Are there other Cubs pitchers who you feel deserve this honor? Sound off in the comments!

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