The Chicago Cubs released Hector Neris and rejoicing could be heard throughout the realm of Cubs fans. A look at Neris’ stats belies just how problematic Neris’ performance has been. A quick look at his numbers shows Hector converted 17 of 22 save opportunities.
That’s 77%, which is not abysmal. His ERA is 3.89 which isn’t gag me with a spoon bad.
However, his WHIP of 1.523 is more indicative of his performance. He earned the nickname, “Heart attack Hector.
It was money poorly spent It would have been bad enough if Neris had been cheap, but $9 million for that type of production was definitely money poorly spent. On top of that, Craig Counsell was seemingly oblivious to the fact that seemed obvious to most fans; Neris didn’t belong in high leverage situations. The Cubs are currently running guys out in high leverage situations at a fraction of Nervis’ cost.
Porter Hodge and Jorge Lopez have saved the Cubs’ last two wins. Each has done it with much less excitement than the Neris Experience. By cutting Neris the Cubs save a potential $9 million cap hit next season as well as possibly saving a little bit this season.
I doubt the move will bring the Cubs under the salary cap this season, but it’s still a good move. And to think, the signing of Nervis was a major factor in the Cubs being over the first luxury tax threshold. Just for comparison’s sake, I checked Josh Hader ‘s numbers.
It seems that Hader was having a bad season but upon review, Hader has conve.