The 2015 Chicago Cubs season was the 144th season for the franchise, the 140th in the National League and the 100th at Wrigley Field. They began the season on April 5, 2015 in a first-ever night game home opener against the St. Louis Cardinals at partially renovated Wrigley Field, and finished on October 4, 2015 on the road against the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Cubs finished the season with the third-best record in baseball (97–65) which was also the third-best in their division, finishing one game behind the Pittsburgh Pirates (98–64) and three games behind the division winner, the rival St. Louis Cardinals (100–62). As a result, they qualified for the second wild card spot for the 2015 postseason and defeated the Pirates in the 2015 National League Wild Card Game and faced the Cardinals in the Division Series. The Cubs defeated St. Louis in four games and advanced to play the New York Mets in the National League Championship Series. It was the Cubs' first appearance in the NLCS since 2003. However, they were swept in four games and were unable to make it to their first World Series since 1945, which they would do the next season.
In 2015, Forbes valued the Cubs at $1.8 billion, ranking them 17th out of all sports franchises in the world, and the fifth highest in all MLB. The Cubs attendance for the regular season was 2,959,812, up over 300,000 from the previous year.
On Monday, September 29, one day after the conclusion of the 2014 season, a $575 million four-year renovation project to Wrigley Field was begun. The bleachers in left and right field were expanded, the stadium was extended further onto both Waveland and Sheffield Avenues, and seven new outfield signs were installed along with a 5,700-square-foot jumbotron scoreboard in the left field bleachers and a 2,400 square foot video scoreboard in the right field bleachers. The parking lots along Clark Street were excavated for underground players' locker rooms and lounges.
Trades and acquisitions
RHP Donn Roach was claimed off the waiver list from the San Diego Padres.
The Atlanta Braves traded second baseman Tommy La Stella to the Cubs for relief pitcher Arodys Vizcaíno and international signing bonus slots.
RHP Jason Hammel signed with Chicago Cubs for a 2-year, $18 million contract after being previously traded in July 2014 to the Oakland Athletics in exchange for top prospect Addison Russell, among other players.
C Miguel Montero was traded by the Arizona Diamondbacks to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for minor league RHP Jefferson Mejia and RHP Zack Godley. Mejia pitched for the Arizona League Cubs in 2014 and Godley pitched for the Daytona Cubs and the Kane County Cougars in 2014.
LHP Jon Lester signed with the Chicago Cubs for six years for $155 million, with a vested option for a seventh. He was officially introduced on December 15, 2014.
Jonathan Herrera signed as a free agent with the Chicago Cubs in December 2014.
Infielder Logan Watkins and relief pitcher Donn Roach were designated for assignment on December 19 to make space for recently claimed Ryan Lavarnway and Shane Peterson.
On December 23, 2014, The Cubs announced that they had signed catcher David Ross to a two-year, $5 million contract.
Chris Denorfia signed a one-year contract worth a guaranteed $2.6 million with $400k in incentives with the Chicago Cubs on January 9, 2015.
On January 19, 2015, outfielder Dexter Fowler was traded to the Cubs from the Houston Astros for Luis Valbuena and Dan Straily.
Gonzalez Germen was claimed off waivers by the Chicago Cubs on January 23, 2015.
On March 5, Cubs signed RHP Phil Coke.
The Cubs decided not to retain Mike Brumley as the assistant hitting coach. Bill Mueller, the hitting coach, resigned over the decision. On October 9. 2014 John Mallee, formerly the Astros hitting coach, was hired as his replacement. Eric Hinske was the assistant hitting coach and Doug Dascenzo was signed to replace him as first base/outfield coach. In late October 2014, quality assurance coach Jose Castro resigned to work with Atlanta Braves hitting coach Kevin Seitzer.
On October 31, the Cubs fired first year manager Rick Renteria. On Monday, November 3, The Cubs announced the signing of Joe Maddon to a five-year contract as manager of the team. Former Cub Henry Blanco was hired to be the quality assurance coach on November 22. At the start of the 2015 season, Brandon Hyde went from 2014 season bench coach to first base and Doug Dascenzo was the outfield coach. Dave Martinez was bench coach. On February 24, 2015, Manny Ramirez was hired as a batting consultant, splitting time between Chicago and AAA Iowa. Also, Kevin Youkilis was given a part-time job as a scouting and player development consultant.
In June 2014, the Cubs announced an end to their radio play-by-play history on WGN (720-AM) radio which dated back to 1924. In a new partnership with CBS Radio, the radio broadcast of their games moved to WBBM (780-AM) for the 2015 season.
The Cubs finalized a new television broadcast agreement with long-time over-the-air carrier WGN-TV (Channel 9), in which the station will carry a reduced slate of 45 games per season. The team also signed a new broadcast agreement with ABC-owned station WLS-TV (Channel 7), in which they will show 25 games annually; this deal replaced WCIU-TV as the Cubs' secondary over-the-air television outlet. Both agreements with WLS and WGN will run through the end of the 2019 season. Play-by-play announcer Len Kasper and color commentator Jim Deshaies will become employees of the Cubs rather than WGN-TV.
As a result of a new programming strategy implemented by Tribune Media for WGN America, the cable superstation will no longer televise Cubs games (as well as that of the Chicago White Sox and Bulls) to a national audience, as of January 2015. This marks the end of a 36-season run of Cubs games televised on the national version of WGN-TV.
The Chicago Cubs have created affiliate stations to complement the 2015 television and radio schedule.
At the conclusion of the first month of the season the Cubs had a record of 12–8. It was their first winning April since the 2008 season. They led the National League in stolen bases with 25, were third in on-base percentage with .329, and sixth in acquiring walks with 71. The pitching staff allowed the fewest walks in the National League with 41, they were third in WHIP with 1.15, fifth in striking out opposing batters with 181, sixth in opposing players batting average with .240, sixth in earned run average with 3.71 and allowed only 14 home runs against them. During the month, the Cubs played in three extra-inning ballgames, winning all three.
April 5 – The Cubs pay tribute to the late Ernie Banks before the first opening night game in Cubs history.
April 17 – Heralded rookie Kris Bryant plays in his first Major League game.
April 5–30 – Due to delays in the 1060 Project, the entire outfield section was unavailable for use by fans attending Cubs games. Attendance figures for the month of April were affected by approximately 5,000 fans per home game.
At the end of the first two months of the season the Cubs had a record of 26–22. It was the first winning two-month period since the end of the 2008 season. They were third in the National League in stolen bases with 46 and second at receiving walks at 192. They did, however, lead the league in striking out at 541. The pitching staff allowed the second fewest walks in the National League with 140, they were third in WHIP, third in striking out opposing batters, sixth in opposing players batting average with .246, fifth in earned run average with 3.72, and allowed 56 home runs against them.
May 11 – Left and center field bleacher seats were available for occupancy for the first time during the season during a night game with the New York Mets.
May 14 – The Cubs four-game sweep of the NY Mets was their first over the Mets at Wrigley Field since Aug. 6–9, 1992. The May 14 victory was Joe Maddon's 800th career win.
May 31 – For the first time in nearly a half-decade the Cubs finished at or above .500 for two months in a row with a May 31 victory against the Kansas City Royals.
Kris Bryant received the Major League Baseball Rookie of the Month Award for May.
June 11 – The right field bleacher seats were available for occupancy for the first time during the season during a night game with the Cincinnati Reds. Dexter Fowler hit the first home run to land into the newly renovated right-field seats at Wrigley Field when fans were present.
June 17 – The Cubs 17–0 victory at Progressive Field against the Cleveland Indians was the largest shutout win by the Cubs since May 13, 1969, a 19–0 win over the Padres at Wrigley Field.
June 30 – The Cubs finished 14–13 for the month; the third month in a row with a winning record.
July 6 – Anthony Rizzo (1B) and Kris Bryant (3B) were named to the National League All-Star Team.
July 13 – At the All-Star break the Cubs had a record of 47–40. They were seventh in Major League baseball in stolen bases with 57 and fourth at receiving walks at 293. They were second in the league in striking out at 799. The pitching staff allowed the fewest hits against in baseball with 140, they were first in WHIP at 1.16, third in striking out opposing batters with 754, first in opposing players batting average with .234, fifth in earned run average with 3.72, and allowed 56 home runs.
July 25 – Cole Hamels of the Philadelphia Phillies pitched a no-hitter against the Cubs, marking the first time the Cubs have been no-hit in 7,921 games, which was the longest streak in the Major Leagues. It was Hamels last start in a Phillies uniform before he was traded to the Texas Rangers.
The Cubs finished a fourth month in a row over .500 for the first time since the 2008 season. With a record of 55–47, they were two games out of the second position to qualify for a wild card post-season playoff game.
August 10 – After a four-game sweep of the San Francisco Giants, the Cubs had moved into the wild card spot and held a 3.5 game lead for the second place wild card qualifier.
August 23 – The Cubs swept the Atlanta Braves, their fourth, four-game sweep of the season; first time since 1945. The Cubs led the NL in both home runs and runs scored in the second half.
August 30 – Jake Arrieta threw a no hitter against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
For the fifth month in a row, the Cubs finished a month over .500 with an August record of 19−9. They were 5.5 games ahead of San Francisco for the second wild card slot. They led the majors in striking out with 1,208 and had the lowest team batting average at .241. The pitching staff struck out 1,128 batters (second in the majors) and had a WHIP of 1.20. Kris Bryant was named the NL Rookie of the Month for August and Jake Arrieta was named the Pitcher of the Month and Player of the Week for August 24–30.
September 1 – IF Javier Baez and LHP Tsuyoshi Wada were recalled from Triple-A Iowa. Catcher David Ross was activated off the family medical emergency leave list. Later in the month, the Cubs also selected the contracts of OF Quintin Berry, RHP Trevor Cahill, RHP Carl Edwards, Jr., RHP Zac Rosscup and RHP Yoervis Medina from Triple-A.
September 11 – The Cubs swept a double header against the Phillies guaranteeing them a winning record for the first time since 2009. Jake Arrieta won his 19th game of the season making him the first pitcher in the 2015 season to hit the mark; it was his 16th straight quality start, allowing just one run over eight innings, and dropping his ERA to 1.99.
September 25 – The Cubs were defeated by their division rival Pittsburgh, 3-2, but still clinched their first postseason berth since 2008 when the San Francisco Giants lost to the Oakland A's.
October 4 – At the conclusion of the season the Cubs had a record of 97–65, third best in Major League Baseball. The 97 wins were the most for a first-year Cubs manager. Their record away from Wrigley Field was 48−33, the Cubs' best road record since 1945. Cubs' hitters led the majors in strikeouts with 1,518 and were third from the bottom with runners in scoring position (.237), but they were fifth in on-base percentage with .321 and first in acquiring walks with 567. The pitching staff allowed the fewest hits in baseball with 1,276, were first in WHIP with 1.15, first in striking out opposing batters with 1,431, and third in earned run average with 3.36. Cubs rookies (Bryant, Schwarber, Russell and Soler) hit 65 home runs, setting a franchise record. The previous high was 58 set in 1966.
November 16 – Kris Bryant won the 2015 National League Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award by a unanimous first place vote. San Francisco Giants third baseman Matt Duffy and Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Jung-ho Kang placed behind Bryant. Bryant became the first Cub to win the award since catcher Geovany Soto in 2008.
November 17 – Manager Joe Maddon won the Manager of the Year Award over St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny and NL-Champions New York Mets manager Terry Collins. Maddon set the franchise record for most wins in the first season as manager, with 97 wins. Maddon became the seventh manager in MLB history to win the award in both leagues, as Maddon previously won the award in 2008 and 2011 with Tampa Bay. He became the first Cubs manager to win the award since Lou Piniella in 2008.
November 18 – Starting Pitcher Jake Arrieta won the 2015 NL Cy Young Award over Dodgers pitchers Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw. Arrieta had a stellar 2015 campaign, going 22–6 with a 1.77 ERA. Arrieta set a major league record with the lowest second-half ERA over a minimum of 12 starts with an ERA of 0.75. He went 14–1 in the second half of the season, as well as no-hitting the Dodgers on August 30. Arrieta is the first Cub to win the award since Hall of Famer Greg Maddux in 1992. The Cubs also became the first team in MLB to win three major awards since the 2001 Seattle Mariners.
October 7 – National League Wild Card game – Jake Arrieta pitched a complete game shutout, striking out eleven batters and allowing only four hits to defeat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4–0 in the 2015 National League Wild Card Game. The Cubs were paced offensively by Dexter Fowler and Kyle Schwarber, who combined for five hits in seven at bats, each with a home run. For the first time in 12 years, the Chicago Cubs won a postseason game after losing their previous 9 postseason games in a row and advanced to play the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Division Series.
October 9 – Game one – John Lackey allowed only three singles in seven innings and the Cardinals beat the Cubs 4–0 in the NLDS opening game. Rookies Tommy Pham and Stephen Piscotty each homered for the Cardinals. Cubs starter, Jon Lester, gave up three runs in 7 and 1/3 innings and left the game trailing 2–0.
October 10 – Game two – In their first divisional game win since 2003, the Cubs got five second inning runs including a two-run home run from Jorge Soler en route to a 6–3 win. Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks pitched well, but allowed a home run to the leadoff batter, third baseman Matt Carpenter in the first, and back-to-back solo shots to Kolten Wong and Randal Grichuk in the fifth inning which led to his exit. Travis Wood, Trevor Cahill and Hector Rondon worked 4 1/2 innings of relief.
October 12 – Game three – The Cubs got thirteen hits to support Jake Arrieta who struck out nine Cardinals over 5 2/3 innings while giving up four runs, the most he had allowed since June 16. Four rookies started for the Cubs and three of them helped to set a Major League playoff team record with six home runs in an 8–6 victory. Six different Cubs players homered – Kyle Schwarber in the second inning, Starlin Castro in the fourth, Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo back-to-back in the fifth, Jorge Soler in the sixth, and Dexter Fowler in the eighth inning. Jason Heyward hit a sixth inning homer off Arrieta and Stephen Piscotty hit a two-run ninth inning homer off Hector Rondon for the Cardinals. The eight total home runs for both teams set a Major League mark for one postseason game. Shortstop Addison Russell left the game in the fourth with left hamstring tightness after sliding head first into third on a triple. Russell would not play the remainder of the postseason.
October 13 – Game four – Eight Chicago Cub pitchers allowed eight hits and combined for fifteen strikeouts to defeat the St. Louis Cardinals and win a postseason series for the first time ever at Wrigley Field. The score was 2–0 in favor of the Cardinals when the second batter of the game, Stephen Piscotty, hit a two-run homer. In the bottom of the second inning, starting pitcher Jason Hammel drove in Starlin Castro with a sharp single to center and Addison Russell's replacement at shortstop, Javier Baez, followed with a three-run homer to right off Cardinals starter, John Lackey. The Cards rallied and tied the score in the top of the sixth, but the rally ended with a strong throw to catcher Miguel Montero from right fielder Jorge Soler to throw out Tony Cruz at the plate as Cruz attempted to score the lead run from second. Anthony Rizzo hit a go-ahead solo homer off Cardinal reliever Kevin Siegrist in the bottom of the inning on a two out, 0-2 pitch. Kyle Schwarber added an insurance run in the seventh inning, also off Siegrist, with a home run ball that landed on top of the new right field Budweiser scoreboard. Pedro Strop in the eighth and Hector Rondon in the ninth struck out four of the seven batters they faced to preserve the 6–4 victory.
October 17 – Game one – In game one versus the New York Mets, Cubs starting starting pitcher, Jon Lester, gave up a solo home run in the first inning to Daniel Murphy. Anthony Rizzo was hit by a pitch and Starlin Castro hit a double to center field that scored Rizzo from first to tie the game in the fifith. A base hit to left by Javier Báez sent Castro to the plate, but he was thrown out on a strong throw by Yoenis Céspedes. In the bottom of the fifth, Wilmer Flores and Juan Lagares both hit one-out singles. Mets starting pitcher Matt Harvey attempted a sacrifice bunt, but the Cubs got a force-out of Flores at third. The next batter, Curtis Granderson, hit a single to score Lagares and the Mets regained the lead. Travis d'Arnaud hit a solo home run in the sixth inning. In the seventh, Lagares hit a leadoff single, was sacrificed by Harvey to second, stole third, and Granderson hit a sacrifice fly to make it 4–1. In the top of the eighth, Kyle Schwarber hit a solo home run for a final score of 4–2.
October 18 – Game two – The Cubs never recovered from a first-inning single by Mets leadoff hitter Curtis Granderson, followed by an RBI double by David Wright and by a home run by Daniel Murphy. Ganderson scored again in the third inning on a single by Yoenis Céspedes and the Mets were ahead 4–0. The Cubs only run came in the sixth inning on a single by Dexter Fowler who advanced on a wild pitch and scored on a two out double by Kris Bryant. The Cubs lost 4–2 and fell two games behind in the series.
October 20 – Game three – For the third game in the series, the Mets scored in the first with a double by Yoenis Céspedes that drove in David Wright off of Cubs starter, Kyle Hendricks. A home run by Kyle Schwarber tied the game in the bottom of the first. In the third, the Mets responded with Daniel Murphy's solo homer, his fifth consecutive postseason game with a home run, to put the Mets up 2–1. Jorge Soler's homer in the fourth again tied the game. The bottom fell out for the Cubs in the sixth when a wild pitch by Trevor Cahill (the losing pitcher) on strike three allowed Yoenis Céspedes to score, putting the Mets up 3–2. A Céspedes single and a sacrifice grounder by Lucas Duda in the seventh drove in Wright and Murphy, for a final score of 5–2 and series deficit of 3–0 for the Cubs.
October 21 – Game four – As in every previous game of the series, the Mets took control of the game in the first inning when first baseman Lucas Duda hit a three-run home run to center field against Cubs starter Jason Hammel. The next batter, catcher Travis d'Arnaud, also hit a home run to make it 4–0. In the second inning, Cubs relief pitcher Travis Wood allowed a two-run double to Duda making it a 6–0 game. Duda's five RBIs tied a Mets record for most in a postseason game. Chicago's first rally came in the fourth when they loaded the bases with no outs for second baseman Starlin Castro. Mets third baseman David Wright made a leaping grab of Castro's line drive to prevent an extra base hit and two runs. However, the Cubs got their first run on an RBI groundout by left fielder Kyle Schwarber. Shortstop Javier Báez popped out in foul territory, stranding two runners and the Cubs were down 6–1. In the fifth inning, after outfielders Dexter Fowler and Jorge Soler reached base, Mets reliever Bartolo Colón struck out third baseman Kris Bryant and the Cubs again stranded two baserunners. In the eighth inning, New York's Daniel Murphy hit a two-run homer, his fourth home run of the series, his seventh of the postseason, and his sixth consecutive game with a home run, a new MLB postseason record. Bryant hit a consolation two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth to put the Mets lead to 8–3. When closer Jeurys Familia struck out Fowler in the ninth, the Mets were back in the World Series for the first time since 2000. The Cubs never had a lead at any point in the four game series. After hitting .529 with the four home runs and a 1.294 slugging percentage for the series, New York's Daniel Murphy was named series MVP.
In the 1989 film Back to the Future Part II, the 2015 Chicago Cubs win the World Series.
(Updated as of 10/03/15)
Stats in bold are the team leaders. Players in bold are on the active roster.
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; BB = Walks; SO = Strikeouts; SB = Stolen bases; Avg. = Batting average
(Updated as of 10/03/15)
Stats in bold are the team leaders. Players in bold are on the active roster.
Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Myrtle Beach
