In NL wild-card clash, Cubs and Pirates are more similar than you think

The National League wild-card game features two teams that are not only extremely familiar with each other, but that utilized a similar strategy to get to this point.

It’s not a perfect analogy, but the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs are more similar than you might think. The Pirates are playoff veterans now, but they were once lovable losers in the same way the Cubs have been.

After 15 seasons of losing, the club hired general manager Neal Huntington in 2007 to turn things around. The Pirates strategy immediately changed. The club focused heavily on international scouting and the Rule 4 draft. The days of drafting Bryan Bullington No. 1 overall had passed. International scouting helped the team acquire Gregory Polanco in 2009, while the focus on the draft gave the club ace Gerrit Cole and first baseman Pedro Alvarez. 

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The front office also adopted a stat-heavy approach, leading them to pick up undervalued assets like Francisco Liriano and Francisco Cervelli. Cervelli is regarded as an excellent pitch framer, and didn’t cost much. They employed a similar strategy with Russell Martin, who was one of the leaders on the club before leaving last offseason.

In Liriano’s case, it helps that Pittsburgh employs Ray Searage, one of the best pitching coaches in the game. In 2012, Liriano posted a 5.34 ERA. Everyone knew the pitcher had talent, but it was starting to look like he would become one of those guys whose stuff is great, but results are poor. Under Searage, Liriano started throwing a two-seam fastball more often. His ground ball rate shot up, while his walk rate dropped to a manageable level. He did all of this while maintaining his excellent strikeout rate.

Liriano is far from the only pitcher that has improved under Searage. A.J. Burnett and J.A. Happ were mostly afterthoughts when they joined the team. Burnett has a career-low 3.34 ERA over three seasons in Pittsburgh, and made his first All-Star team this season. Happ posted a 1.65 ERA in 63 1/3 innings down the stretch after basically being a journeyman pitcher for most of his career. Edinson Volquez also experienced a resurgence under Searage, though he left last offseason.

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Combine those things with superstar Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte and Neil Walker, all of whom were with the club prior to Huntington’s hiring, and that pretty much explains how this team was built.

The Cubs were in a much similar position following the 2011 season. With things looking bleak, Theo Epstein signed on as team president. Jed Hoyer came on as general manager, and both men were tasked with turning around a previously prestigious franchise.

They did so by scouring the international market for talent, and focusing on the Rule 4 draft. Jorge Soler signed with the club in 2012, and both Kris Bryant and Kyle Schwarber were first round draft picks under the new regime. It also helps that Hoyer believed in Anthony Rizzo enough to acquire him a second time (the first occurred when Hoyer was in San Diego). Getting Addison Russell for a year and a half of Jeff Samardzija worked out pretty well, too. 

Unsurprisingly, the front office also adopted a stat-oriented approach. Miguel Montero was brought in after a down year at the plate due to his framing. David Ross is also regarded as a strong defensive catcher. Dexter Fowler was an undervalued asset who has far exceeded his value this season.

And don’t forget about Jake Arrieta. The former prospect developed into one of the game’s best pitchers with the team after posting a 5.46 ERA over 358 innings with Baltimore. A big part of that improvement has to be attributed to pitching coach Chris Bosio, who has also turned into one of the better pitching coaches in the league. Arrieta started throwing his slider more often with Bosio, and the results have been fantastic. Since coming to the Cubs, Arrieta has a 2.08 ERA over 358 2/3 innings.

While Arrieta is his biggest victory, Bosio has also done a fantastic job with Pedro Strop and Jason Hammel. Strop had a 7.25 ERA in 2013 prior to joining the Cubs. He immediately improved, lowering that figure to 2.83. After being a throw-in for Arrieta, Strop is now one of the club’s key relievers.

Hammel also saw improvement while working with Bosio. Though he had experienced success earlier in his career, there were some questions about whether Hammel was finished when he signed with Chicago in 2014. He was coming off two injury-riddled season, and had just posted a 4.97 ERA in 2013. 

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Since joining the Cubs, he’s experienced a resurgence, posting a 3.45 ERA over 48 starts. Hammel seemed to lose some of his effectiveness after being traded to Oakland last season, so he re-signed with the Cubs in the offseason in order to work with Bosio again. That’s one heck of an endorsement. 

It may have taken a few years, but both clubs eventually turned themselves into contenders. They did so by embracing stats, finding undervalued resources and committing to building through the draft. It also helps that both clubs employ two of the best pitching coaches around. The fact that both scouting and strong coaches played a role in each team’s development should not be undersold. 

Now that both franchises have finally returned to relevance, there will be plenty of teams looking to build up their teams in the same manner. Perhaps, doing the things the Pirates and Cubs have done are obvious. Most rebuilding teams should build through the draft, and try to find undervalued players.

But executing those principles is something entirely different. Both the Cubs are Pirates were able to do those things successfully, and now both teams are on the brink of a possible deep October run. After years of futility, the Pirates are now a savvy, playoff veteran. While this is just the first year of the Cubs’ rise, you get the sense they’ll be a pesky playoff team for a number of years moving forward. 

The stakes will certainly be high Wednesday night. Given the two clubs involved, this will likely be the first of many postseason games these two teams will play against each other in the coming years. 

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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik