2020 Chicago Cubs season
The 2020 Chicago Cubs season was the 149th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 145th in the National League and the Cubs' 105th season at Wrigley Field. The Cubs were managed by David Ross, in his first year as Cubs manager, and played their home games at Wrigley Field as members of Major League Baseball's National League Central Division. The Cubs opened the season on July 24 against the Milwaukee Brewers and finished the season on the road against the Chicago White Sox. The Cubs clinched a playoff berth on September 22, 2020, when  the Philadelphia Phillies were swept in a doubleheader. This marked the Cubs' fifth playoff appearance in the previous six years. Four days later, they clinched the National League Central Division title for the first time since 2017. They finished the regular season 34–26 to win the division by three games. They received the No. 3 seed in the newly-expanded playoffs. However, they were swept in the Wild Card Series by the Miami Marlins. The season was shortened to a 60-game schedule due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Previous season. The Cubs finished the 2019 season 84–78 to finish  in third place in the Central Division. The Cubs failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 2014. The season marked the final year with Joe Maddon as manager of the Cubs. COVID-19 effects on season. On March 12, 2020, MLB announced that because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the start of the regular season would be delayed by at least two weeks in addition to the remainder of spring training being cancelled. Four days later, it was announced that the start of the season would be pushed back indefinitely due to the recommendation made by the CDC  to restrict events of more than 50 people for eight weeks. On June 23, commissioner Rob Manfred unilaterally implemented a 60-game season. Players reported to training camps at their home ballparks on July 1 in order to resume spring training and prepare for a July 24 Opening Day. Television broadcasts. The season marked the debut season for the team's new cable television network, the Marquee Sports Network, which debuted in February 2020. All Cubs games, except for those subject to national broadcasts (on Fox, TBS and ESPN), were aired on Marquee. Previously, Cubs games were split between NBC  Sports Chicago, WGN-TV, and ABC 7. On the day of the scheduled start of the shortened season, Marquee announced an agreement with Comcast, who had more than one millions cable subscribers in the Chicago area and which represented half of the market share for the home television market, the day of the first game of the season. Marquee was only able to work out a deal with one streaming provider, Hulu, for the 2020 season. Marquee also had agreements with DirecTV, but no other providers. Following the season, Hulu dropped the network. Offseason. Coaching changes. Prior to the end  of the 2019 season, the Cubs announced that Joe Maddon would not return as manager for the Cubs in 2020. On October 24, 2019, the team announced that former Cub David Ross had been hired as the team's next manager. Maddon was later named the manager of the Los Angeles Angels. Third base coach Brian Butterfield and strength and conditioning coach Tim Buss left the Cubs to join Maddon in Anaheim. Former San Diego Padres manager Andy Green was hired as bench coach. Craig Driver was hired to coach first base with Will Veneble moving to coach third. The  Cubs also added Mike Napoli (quality assurance coach) and Chris Young (bullpen coach). Rule changes. For the 2020 season, MLB instituted several new rule changes including the following: Further rule changes came into effect in response to the COVID-19 pandemic including the use of the DH in the National League, a shortened schedule, and starting extra innings with a runner at second base. After the start of the season, MLB also instituted seven-inning games for doubleheaders. Transactions. October 2019. Source November 2019. Source December 2019. Source January 2020. Source February 2020. Source Regular season. Due to the pandemic and  the shortened season, Major League Baseball instituted certain rule changes which included the use of a universal designated hitter, a runner on second base to start extra innings, and a revised schedule. On July 30, the league and the union agreed that all remaining doubleheaders on the season would be seven innings. The league and players also agreed on an expanded postseason, giving eight teams in each league a playoff berth. Game log. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the regular season was shortened to 60 games with teams playing 10 games against each other member of their division while also  playing four games against each team in the corresponding division in the other league. The Cubs, therefore, played 10 games against each team in their division and four games against each team in the American League Central Division. On July 6, 2020, MLB announced the Cubs 60-game schedule which began on July 24 and ended on September 27. Transactions. June. Source July. Source August. Source September. Source Regular season roster. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting proposed shortened season, teams started the season with a 30-man roster. The rosters reduced to 28 after two weeks and  then were to return to the new-normal roster size of 26 after that. It was decided later to keep rosters at 28 for the remainder of the season. "(Contains all players who played in a game for the Cubs during the 2020 season.)" Postseason. Wild Card series. The Cubs hosted both games of the Wild Card series against the Miami Marlins. They would have hosted game 3 as well, had it been necessary. It was announced that Kyle Hendricks would make the start for the Cubs in Game 1 of the series on September 30. Yu Darvish started Game  2 of the series. Game 1. Hendricks pitched well through six innings, giving up no runs. However, the Cub offense struggled again, failing to score a run through four innings. Ian Happ homered in the fifth to give the Cubs a 1–0 lead. However, in the seventh, Hendricks gave up a three-run home run to Corey Dickerson to give the Marlins a 3–1 lead. Jeremy Jeffress relieved Hendricks and promptly gave up a single and a home run to Jesús Aguilar to increase Marlin lead to 5–1. The Cubs only managed two further baserunners as the Cubs lost game  one 5–1. The loss put the Cubs on the verge of elimination from the playoffs in the best-of-three game series. Game 2. The game scheduled for October 1 was postponed due to the potential for rain throughout the day. The game was rescheduled to October 2. Darvish pitched six scoreless innings before allowing a homer to Garrett Cooper and a run-scoring single to Magneuris Sierra in the seventh to give the Marlins a 2–0 lead. The Cub offense continued to struggle in the postseason, failing to score a run. The Cubs lost 2–0 and were eliminated from  the postseason. Statistics. Regular season. Batting. "(final statistics)" "Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases; BB = Walks; K = Strikeouts; Avg. = Batting average; OBP = On Base Percentage; SLG = Slugging Percentage" Source Pitching. "(Final statistics)" "Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed ; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts" Source Postseason. Batting. "(Final statistics)" "Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases; BB = Walks; K = Strikeouts; Avg. = Batting average; OBP = On Base Percentage; SLG = Slugging Percentage" Pitching. "(Final statistics)" "Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched ; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts" Farm system. On June 30, it was announced that the 160 minor league baseball teams' seasons were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This marked the first time in the history of Minor League Baseball that a season had been canceled. Source Major League Baseball draft. The 2020 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft occurred on Monday, June 10 through June 11, 2020. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the  draft was shortened to only five rounds.