# 1978 Chicago Cubs season

The 1978 Chicago Cubs season was the 107th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 103rd in the National League and the 63rd at Wrigley Field. The Cubs finished third in the National League East with a record of 79–83.

## Offseason

* October 13, 1977: Keith Drumright was traded by the Cubs to the Houston Astros for Al Javier.
* October 31, 1977: Bill Bonham was traded by the Cubs to the Cincinnati Reds to the Chicago Cubs for Woodie Fryman and Bill Caudill.
* December 5, 1977: Dave Rosello was traded by the Cubs to the Cleveland Indians for Bruce Compton (minors) and Norm Churchill (minors).
* December 5, 1977: Jesús Figueroa was drafted by the Cubs from the New York Yankees in the 1977 rule 5 draft.

## Regular season

On June 14, in Cincinnati, Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds singled in the first inning off Cubs pitcher Dave Roberts; Rose would proceed to get a hit in every game he played until August 1.

### Season standings

vteNL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 90 | 72 | .556 | — | 54‍–‍28 | 36‍–‍44 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 88 | 73 | .547 | 1½ | 55‍–‍26 | 33‍–‍47 |
| Chicago Cubs | 79 | 83 | .488 | 11 | 44‍–‍38 | 35‍–‍45 |
| Montreal Expos | 76 | 86 | .469 | 14 | 41‍–‍39 | 35‍–‍47 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 69 | 93 | .426 | 21 | 37‍–‍44 | 32‍–‍49 |
| New York Mets | 66 | 96 | .407 | 24 | 33‍–‍47 | 33‍–‍49 |

### Record vs. opponents

1978 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 5–7 | 6–12 | 8–10 | 5–13 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 2–10 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 5–7 |
| Chicago | 7–5 | — | 7–5 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 7–11 | 11–7 | 4–14 | 7–11 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 15–3 |
| Cincinnati | 12–6 | 5–7 | — | 11–7 | 9–9 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 4–7 | 9–9 | 12–6 | 8–4 |
| Houston | 10–8 | 6–6 | 7–11 | — | 7–11 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 8–10 | 6–12 | 7–5 |
| Los Angeles | 13–5 | 8–4 | 9–9 | 11–7 | — | 8–4 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 5–7 |
| Montreal | 7–5 | 11–7 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 4–8 | — | 8–10 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 9–9 |
| New York | 6–6 | 7–11 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 10–8 | — | 6–12 | 7–11 | 5–7 | 3–9 | 7–11 |
| Philadelphia | 4-8 | 14–4 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 9–9 | 12–6 | — | 11–7 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 10–8 |
| Pittsburgh | 10–2 | 11–7 | 7–4 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 11–7 | 11–7 | 7–11 | — | 5–7 | 4–8 | 9–9 |
| San Diego | 10–8 | 5–7 | 9–9 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 7–5 | — | 8–10 | 9–3 |
| San Francisco | 7–11 | 8–4 | 6–12 | 12–6 | 7–11 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 10–8 | — | 9–3 |
| St. Louis | 7–5 | 3–15 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 8–10 | 9–9 | 3–9 | 3–9 | — |

### Notable transactions

* June 6, 1978: Mike Diaz was drafted by the Cubs in the 30th round of the 1978 Major League Baseball draft.
* June 9, 1978: Woodie Fryman was traded by the Cubs to the Montreal Expos for a player to be named later. The Expos completed the deal by sending Jerry White to the Cubs on June 23.
* June 10, 1978: The Cubs traded a player to be named later to the New York Yankees for Ken Holtzman. The Cubs completed the trade by sending Ron Davis to the Yankees on June 12.
* June 15, 1978: Joe Wallis was traded by the Cubs to the Cleveland Indians for Mike Vail.
* June 26, 1978: Paul Reuschel was traded by the Cubs to the Cleveland Indians for Dennis DeBarr.

### Roster
## Player stats
### Batting
#### Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| C | Dave Rader | 116 | 305 | 62 | .203 | 3 | 36 |
| 1B | Bill Buckner | 117 | 446 | 144 | .323 | 5 | 74 |
| 2B | Manny Trillo | 152 | 552 | 144 | .261 | 4 | 55 |
| 3B | Steve Ontiveros | 82 | 276 | 67 | .243 | 1 | 22 |
| SS | Iván DeJesús | 160 | 619 | 172 | .278 | 3 | 35 |
| LF | Dave Kingman | 119 | 395 | 105 | .266 | 28 | 79 |
| CF | Greg Gross | 124 | 347 | 92 | .265 | 1 | 39 |
| RF | Bobby Murcer | 146 | 499 | 140 | .281 | 9 | 64 |

#### Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| Larry Biittner | 120 | 343 | 88 | .257 | 4 | 50 |
| Gene Clines | 109 | 229 | 59 | .258 | 0 | 17 |
| Rodney Scott | 78 | 227 | 64 | .282 | 0 | 15 |
| Mike Vail | 74 | 180 | 60 | .333 | 4 | 33 |
| Jerry White | 59 | 136 | 37 | .272 | 1 | 10 |
| Larry Cox | 59 | 121 | 34 | .281 | 2 | 18 |
| Tim Blackwell | 49 | 103 | 23 | .223 | 0 | 7 |
| Mick Kelleher | 68 | 95 | 24 | .253 | 0 | 6 |
| Héctor Cruz | 30 | 76 | 18 | .237 | 2 | 9 |
| Joe Wallis | 28 | 55 | 17 | .309 | 1 | 6 |
| Davey Johnson | 24 | 49 | 15 | .306 | 2 | 6 |
| Scot Thompson | 19 | 36 | 15 | .417 | 0 | 2 |
| Rudy Meoli | 47 | 29 | 3 | .103 | 0 | 2 |
| Ed Putman | 17 | 25 | 5 | .200 | 0 | 3 |
| Mike Gordon | 4 | 5 | 1 | .200 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Sember | 9 | 3 | 1 | .333 | 0 | 0 |
| Karl Pagel | 2 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |

### Pitching
#### Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Rick Reuschel | 35 | 242.2 | 14 | 15 | 3.41 | 115 |
| Dennis Lamp | 37 | 223.2 | 7 | 15 | 3.30 | 73 |
| Ray Burris | 40 | 198.2 | 7 | 13 | 4.76 | 94 |
| Mike Krukow | 27 | 138.0 | 9 | 3 | 3.91 | 81 |

#### Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Dave Roberts | 35 | 142.1 | 6 | 8 | 5.25 | 54 |
| Woodie Fryman | 13 | 55.2 | 2 | 4 | 5.17 | 28 |
| Ken Holtzman | 23 | 53.0 | 0 | 3 | 6.11 | 36 |

#### Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
| Bruce Sutter | 64 | 8 | 10 | 27 | 3.19 | 106 |
| Donnie Moore | 71 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 4.11 | 50 |
| Willie Hernández | 54 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3.77 | 38 |
| Lynn McGlothen | 49 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 3.04 | 60 |
| Dave Geisel | 18 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4.24 | 15 |
| Paul Reuschel | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5.14 | 13 |
| Manny Seoane | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5.40 | 5 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Wichita Aeros | American Association | Harry Dunlop |
| AA | Midland Cubs | Texas League | Jim Saul |
| A | Pompano Beach Cubs | Florida State League | Jack Hiatt |
| A-Short Season | Geneva Cubs | New York–Penn League | Bob Hartsfield |
| Rookie | GCL Cubs | Gulf Coast League | Randy Hundley |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Geneva