Brandon Hughes
27-Year-Old
Day-To-Day
Injury Knee
2022 Stats
W-L
2-3
ERA
3.12
WHIP
1.09
K
68
SV
8
2023 Projections
2023 Fantasy Outlook
Hughes emerged as a pleasant surprise after Chicago traded closer David Robertson and his presumed replacement, Scott Effross, at the deadline last year. The southpaw made his big league debut last May and immediately made an impression with five strikeouts over 1.2 innings in his first outing. Hughes leveraged a 93-mph fastball with plenty of horizontal break and a filthy slider that produced a 49% whiff rate to strike out 68 over 57.2 innings for a solid 10.6 K/9. He racked up 57 appearances to become the first Cubs rookie to pitch in 50-plus games since 2014. However, his 11.1% barrel rate was poor (4th percentile), while his 8.8% walk rate and 38.3% hard hit percentage were also below average. Hughes still maintained solid ratios while leading the Cubs with eight saves after the trade deadline, but don't count on a leading bullpen role in 2023 just yet with Chicago looking to spend this winter. Read Past Outlooks
RANKS
#390
ADP
Can't rule out IL stint
Cubs manager David Ross said Thursday that he couldn't rule out Hughes (knee) requiring an IL stint, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.
ANALYSIS
Hughes hasn't appeared in a Cactus League game since March 16, and he acknowledged to reporters Thursday in Cubs camp that he's been battling lingering left knee inflammation for much of the spring. It's shown up in his production on the mound, as the 27-year-old left-hander has yielded three earned runs on five hits and three walks through four innings this spring. The hope is that he can return to live action this weekend, which would alleviate some of the concern. But the clock is ticking fast toward Opening Day.
Hughes hasn't appeared in a Cactus League game since March 16, and he acknowledged to reporters Thursday in Cubs camp that he's been battling lingering left knee inflammation for much of the spring. It's shown up in his production on the mound, as the 27-year-old left-hander has yielded three earned runs on five hits and three walks through four innings this spring. The hope is that he can return to live action this weekend, which would alleviate some of the concern. But the clock is ticking fast toward Opening Day.
Pitching Stats
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2022
2022 MLB Game Log
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Minor League Game Log
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Pitching Appearances Breakdown
Average Pitch Count
17
Last 10 Games
13
Last 5 Games
10
How many pitches does Brandon Hughes generally throw?
1-10
11-20
21-30
31-40
41-50
51-60
61-70
71-80
81-90
91-100
101-110
111-120
121+
What part of the game does Brandon Hughes generally pitch?
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
Extra
% Games Reaching Innings Threshold
% Games By Number of Innings Pitched
Left/Right Pitching Splits
Since 2020
-19%
BAA vs RHP
2022
-19%
BAA vs RHP
| BAA | K | BB | H | HR | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Since 2020vs Left | .226 | 28 | 7 | 19 | 1 | |||
| Since 2020vs Right | .183 | 40 | 14 | 23 | 10 | |||
| 2022vs Left | .226 | 28 | 7 | 19 | 1 | |||
| 2022vs Right | .183 | 40 | 14 | 23 | 10 | |||
| 2021vs Left | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2021vs Right | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2020vs Left | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2020vs Right | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| More Splits→ | View More Split Stats | |||||||
Home/Away Pitching Splits
Since 2020
-23%
ERA on Road
2022
-23%
ERA on Road
| ERA | WHIP | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Since 2020Home | 3.54 | 1.32 | 28.0 | 14.5 | 2.9 | ||||
| Since 2020Away | 2.73 | 0.88 | 29.2 | 7.0 | 3.6 | ||||
| 2022Home | 3.54 | 1.32 | 28.0 | 14.5 | 2.9 | ||||
| 2022Away | 2.73 | 0.88 | 29.2 | 7.0 | 3.6 | ||||
| 2021Home | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2021Away | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2020Home | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2020Away | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| More Splits→ | View More Split Stats | ||||||||
Stat Review
How does Brandon Hughes compare to other relievers?
This section compares his stats with all relief pitcher seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 30 innings)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.
* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 30 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 30 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
K/BB
3.24K/9
10.6BB/9
3.3HR/9
1.7Fastball
93.2 mphERA
3.12WHIP
1.09BABIP
.247GB/FB
0.83Left On Base
86.1%Exit Velocity
80.5 mphBarrels/BBE
5.0%Spin Rate
2343 rpmBalls Hit 95+ MPH
18.6%Swinging Strike
14.6%Advanced Pitching Stats
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Defensive Stats
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Stats Vs Today's Lineup
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More Fantasy News
Dealing with left knee issue
Hughes said Thursday that he's been dealing with some discomfort in his left knee, Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
ANALYSIS
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Out of closer mix?
With Michael Fulmer and Brad Boxberger viewed as the Cubs' top closing options, per Patrick Mooney of The Athletic, Hughes may have to settle for setup work.
ANALYSIS
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Easing into spring work
The Cubs are easing Hughes into Cactus League action after the lefty set a career high in innings pitched last season, Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune reports.
ANALYSIS
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Has new bullpen competition
Hughes will likely compete with newcomers Brad Boxberger and Michael Fulmer for back-end roles in Chicago's bullpen to begin the year, Mike Axisa of CBS Sports reports.
ANALYSIS
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Locks down eighth save
Hughes retired the final out of Saturday's win over the Reds via strikeout to earn the save.
ANALYSIS
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