2012 Chicago Cubs season
The 2012 Chicago Cubs season was the 141st season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 137th in the National League and the 97th at Wrigley Field. The Cubs finished fifth in the NL Central with a record of 61–101, their worst record since 1966. The Cubs began the season at home on April 5, 2012 against the Washington Nationals and finished the season at home on October 3 against the Houston Astros.
The season marked the first season with Jed Hoyer as General Manager and Theo Epstein as President of Baseball Operations. It also marked the first season with Dale Sveum as manager. The season also marked the last season with the Houston Astros in the National League Central as they would move to the American League West in 2013.
The season also marked the first season in the Cubs rebuilding project under Theo Epstein that would break their 108-year World Series drought and lead the Cubs to the 2016 World Series championship.
The season was the last full season with the Cubs for Alfonso Soriano, who would be traded at the 2013 trade deadline.
During the offseason, the Cubs would acquire future All-Star Anthony Rizzo from the San Diego Padres. During the season, the Cubs would also acquire players that would play important roles during their 2016 World Series season: Travis Wood was acquired via trade from the Cincinnati Reds on December 23, 2011, Albert Almora was drafted on June 4, Jorge Soler was signed as an amateur free agent on June 30, and Kyle Hendricks was acquired via a trade with the Texas Rangers on July 30.
Offseason transactions
November 2011
- November 2, Justin Berg, Robert Coello, Angel Guzman, Scott Moore, Chris Robinson, and Jeff Stevens granted free agency.
- November 15, signed Justin Berg as a free agent.
- November 18, Luis Montanez granted free agency.
- November 30, signed David DeJesus as a free agent.
December
- December 8, drafted Lendy Castillo from the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2011 rule 5 draft. Ryan Flaherty drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 2011 rule 5 draft. Marwin Gonzalez drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 2011 rule 5 draft.
- December 8, traded Tyler Colvin and DJ LeMahieu to the Colorado Rockies. Received Casey Weathers and Ian Stewart.
- December 9, selected Jeff Bianchi off waivers from the Kansas City Royals.
- December 12, Koyie Hill granted free agency.
- December 21, signed Reed Johnson as a free agent.
- December 22, signed Manny Corpas as a free agent.
- December 23, traded Sean Marshall to the Cincinnati Reds. Received Dave Sappelt, Ronald Torreyes, and Travis Wood.
- December 26, signed Andy Sonnanstine as a free agent.
January 2012
- January 4, signed Andy Sonnanstine as a free agent.
- January 5, traded Carlos Zambrano and cash to the Miami Marlins. Received Chris Volstad.
- January 6, signed Edgar Gonzalez as a free agent. Traded Kyung-Min Na and Andrew Cashner to the San Diego Padres. Received Zach Cates and Anthony Rizzo.
- January 10, signed Paul Maholm as a free agent.
- January 11, Jeff Bianchi selected by the Milwaukee Brewers off waivers.
- January 13, signed Alfredo Amezaga and Kerry Wood as a free agents.
- January 18, signed Jason Jaramillo as a free agent.
- January 19, signed Rodrigo Lopez as a free agent.
- January 20, signed Bobby Scales as a free agent.
- January 30, signed Trever Miller and Matt Tolbert as a free agents.
February
- February 2, signed Ryan Rowland-Smith as a free agent.
- February 6, selected Adrian Cardenas off waivers from the Oakland Athletics.
- February 18, signed Nate Robertson as a free agent.
- February 21, traded a player to be named later and Chris Carpenter to the Boston Red Sox. Received a player to be named later. Sent Aaron Kurcz to the Boston Red Sox to complete the trade. Received Jair Bogaerts to complete the trade.
March
- March 11, signed Gerardo Concepcion as an amateur free agent
- March 16, selected Frankie De La Cruz off waivers from the Milwaukee Brewers.
- March 24, Andy Sonnanstine granted free agency.
- March 26, signed Shawn Camp as a free agent. Released Trever Miller.
- March 27, released Jason Jaramillo.
- March 31, released Bobby Scales.
April
- April 4, selected Luis Valbuena off waivers from the Toronto Blue Jays.
Regular season
NL Central standings
NL Wild Card
Record vs. opponents
Transactions
April
- April 5, John Gaub selected by the Tampa Bay Rays off waivers.
- April 21, traded Marlon Byrd and cash to the Boston Red Sox. Received a player to be named later and Michael Bowden. The Boston Red Sox sent Hunter Cervenka to complete the trade.
- April 29, released Edgar Gonzalez.
May
- May 12, signed Brian Esposito as a free agent.
- May 15, signed Mike MacDougal as a free agent.
- May 19, Kerry Wood voluntarily retired. Purchased Koyie Hill from the Cincinnati Reds.
- May 25, signed Diory Hernandez as a free agent.
- May 29, signed Shane Lindsay as a free agent. Released Nate Robertson.
June
- June 1, selected Jairo Asencio off waivers from the Cleveland Indians.
- June 4, signed Hung-Chih Kuo as a free agent. Drafted Albert Almora in the 1st round of the 2012 amateur draft. Player signed July 10, 2012.
- June 17, Koyie Hill granted Free Agency.
- June 27, released Shane Lindsay.
- June 30, signed Jorge Soler as an amateur free agent.
July
- July 6, released Hung-Chih Kuo.
- July 12, purchased Justin Germano from the Boston Red Sox.
- July 27, signed Jeff Frazier as a free agent.
- July 30, traded Reed Johnson, Paul Maholm and cash to the Atlanta Braves. Received Jaye Chapman and Arodys Vizcaino.
- July 31, traded Geovany Soto to the Texas Rangers. Received Jake Brigham and player to be named or cash. Traded Ryan Dempster to the Texas Rangers. Received Christian Villanueva and Kyle Hendricks.
August
- August 5, traded Jeff Baker to the Detroit Tigers. Received players to be named later. The Detroit Tigers sent Marcelo Carreno and cash to complete the trade.
- August 13, signed Seth McClung as a free agent.
- August 14, released Frankie De La Cruz.
- August 16, signed Horacio Ramirez as a free agent.
- August 19, selected Alex Hinshaw off waivers from the San Diego Padres.
- August 23, selected Miguel Socolovich off waivers from the Baltimore Orioles.
- August 27, traded Blake Lalli to the Oakland Athletics. Received Anthony Recker.
- August 29, Scott Maine selected by the Cleveland Indians off waivers.
September
- September 7, selected Jason Berken off waivers from the Baltimore Orioles.
October
- October 4, Blake DeWitt, Alex Hinshaw, and Randy Wells granted free agency.
- October 25, Anthony Recker selected by the New York Mets off waivers.
- October 26, Manny Corpas granted free agency. Chris Volstad selected by the Kansas City Royals off waivers.
- October 27, signed Edwin Maysonet as a free agent.
- October 29, Alfredo Amezaga, Shawn Camp, and Justin Germano granted free agency.
- October 31, Joe Mather granted free agency.
Game log
Roster
Statistics
Batting
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2b = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; Avg. = Batting average; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases| Player | ||||||||||
| Jeff Baker | 54 | 134 | 16 | 36 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 20 | .269 | 4 |
| Darwin Barney | 156 | 548 | 73 | 139 | 26 | 4 | 7 | 44 | .254 | 6 |
| Marlon Byrd | 13 | 43 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .070 | 0 |
| Tony Campana | 89 | 174 | 26 | 46 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 5 | .264 | 30 |
| Adrian Cardenas | 45 | 60 | 5 | 11 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .183 | 0 |
| Welington Castillo | 52 | 170 | 16 | 45 | 11 | 0 | 5 | 22 | .265 | 0 |
| Starlin Castro | 162 | 646 | 78 | 183 | 29 | 12 | 14 | 78 | .283 | 25 |
| Steve Clevenger | 69 | 199 | 16 | 40 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 16 | .201 | 0 |
| David DeJesus | 148 | 506 | 76 | 133 | 28 | 8 | 9 | 50 | .263 | 7 |
| Blake DeWitt | 18 | 29 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .138 | 0 |
| Koyie Hill | 11 | 39 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .179 | 0 |
| Brett Jackson | 44 | 120 | 14 | 21 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 9 | .175 | 0 |
| Reed Johnson | 76 | 169 | 23 | 51 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 16 | .302 | 2 |
| Bryan LaHair | 130 | 340 | 42 | 88 | 17 | 0 | 16 | 40 | .259 | 4 |
| Blake Lalli | 6 | 15 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .133 | 0 |
| Joe Mather | 103 | 225 | 18 | 47 | 11 | 0 | 5 | 19 | .209 | 5 |
| Anthony Recker | 9 | 18 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .167 | 0 |
| Anthony Rizzo | 87 | 337 | 44 | 96 | 15 | 0 | 15 | 48 | .285 | 3 |
| Dave Sappelt | 26 | 69 | 8 | 19 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 8 | .275 | 0 |
| Alfonso Soriano | 151 | 561 | 68 | 147 | 33 | 2 | 32 | 108 | .262 | 6 |
| Geovany Soto | 52 | 176 | 26 | 35 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 14 | .199 | 0 |
| Ian Stewart | 55 | 179 | 16 | 36 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 17 | .201 | 0 |
| Luis Valbuena | 90 | 265 | 26 | 58 | 20 | 0 | 4 | 26 | .219 | 0 |
| Josh Vitters | 36 | 99 | 7 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | .121 | 2 |
| Jason Berken | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 |
| Michael Bowden | 30 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 |
| Casey Coleman | 17 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 | 0 |
| Manny Corpas | 48 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 |
| Ryan Dempster | 16 | 32 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .094 | 0 |
| Matt Garza | 18 | 30 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .067 | 0 |
| Justin Germano | 13 | 17 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .059 | 0 |
| Paul Maholm | 21 | 39 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .077 | 0 |
| Scott Maine | 21 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 |
| Brooks Raley | 5 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .200 | 0 |
| Chris Rusin | 7 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .167 | 0 |
| James Russell | 77 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 |
| Jeff Samardzija | 31 | 50 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .100 | 0 |
| Chris Volstad | 21 | 28 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .179 | 0 |
| Randy Wells | 12 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .250 | 0 |
| Kerry Wood | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 |
| Travis Wood | 28 | 53 | 5 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .189 | 0 |
Pitching
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| Player | ||||||||||||
| Jason Berken | 0 | 3 | 4.82 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 18.2 | 23 | 14 | 10 | 6 | 11 |
| Ryan Dempster | 5 | 5 | 2.25 | 16 | 16 | 0 | 104.0 | 81 | 28 | 26 | 27 | 83 |
| Matt Garza | 5 | 7 | 3.91 | 18 | 18 | 0 | 103.2 | 90 | 48 | 45 | 32 | 96 |
| Justin Germano | 2 | 10 | 6.75 | 13 | 12 | 0 | 64.0 | 81 | 52 | 48 | 21 | 45 |
| Paul Maholm | 9 | 6 | 3.74 | 21 | 20 | 0 | 120.1 | 115 | 51 | 50 | 36 | 81 |
| Brooks Raley | 1 | 2 | 8.14 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 24.1 | 33 | 23 | 22 | 11 | 16 |
| Chris Rusin | 2 | 3 | 6.37 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 29.2 | 38 | 22 | 21 | 11 | 21 |
| Jeff Samardzija | 9 | 13 | 3.81 | 28 | 28 | 0 | 174.2 | 157 | 79 | 74 | 58 | 180 |
| Chris Volstad | 3 | 12 | 6.31 | 21 | 21 | 0 | 111.1 | 137 | 81 | 78 | 47 | 61 |
| Travis Wood | 6 | 13 | 4.27 | 26 | 26 | 0 | 156.0 | 133 | 80 | 74 | 57 | 119 |
| Jairo Asencio | 0 | 0 | 3.07 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 14.2 | 12 | 6 | 5 | 12 | 8 |
| Jeff Beliveau | 1 | 0 | 4.58 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 17.2 | 21 | 9 | 9 | 13 | 17 |
| Michael Bowden | 0 | 0 | 2.95 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 36.2 | 30 | 12 | 12 | 17 | 29 |
| Alberto Cabrera | 1 | 1 | 5.40 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 21.2 | 16 | 15 | 13 | 19 | 27 |
| Shawn Camp | 3 | 6 | 3.59 | 80 | 0 | 2 | 77.2 | 79 | 32 | 31 | 25 | 54 |
| Lendy Castillo | 0 | 1 | 7.88 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 16.0 | 24 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 13 |
| Jaye Chapman | 0 | 1 | 3.75 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 12.0 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 12 |
| Casey Coleman | 0 | 2 | 7.40 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 24.1 | 37 | 20 | 20 | 12 | 16 |
| Manny Corpas | 0 | 2 | 5.01 | 48 | 0 | 0 | 46.2 | 50 | 27 | 26 | 19 | 28 |
| Rafael Dolis | 2 | 4 | 6.39 | 34 | 0 | 4 | 38.0 | 40 | 29 | 27 | 24 | 24 |
| Alex Hinshaw | 0 | 0 | 135.00 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| Rodrigo López | 0 | 1 | 5.68 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 6.1 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 2 |
| Scott Maine | 1 | 1 | 4.79 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 20.2 | 17 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 26 |
| Carlos Mármol | 3 | 3 | 3.42 | 61 | 0 | 20 | 55.1 | 40 | 24 | 21 | 45 | 72 |
| Joe Mather | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Blake Parker | 0 | 0 | 6.00 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 6.0 | 10 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 6 |
| James Russell | 7 | 1 | 3.25 | 77 | 0 | 2 | 69.1 | 67 | 28 | 25 | 30 | 55 |
| Miguel Socolovich | 0 | 0 | 4.50 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6.0 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| Randy Wells | 1 | 2 | 5.34 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 28.2 | 35 | 18 | 17 | 25 | 14 |
| Kerry Wood | 0 | 2 | 8.31 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 8.2 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 11 | 6 |