1986 Chicago Cubs season

The 1986 Chicago Cubs season was the 115th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 111th in the National League and the 71st at Wrigley Field. The Cubs finished fifth in the National League East with a record of 70–90.

1986 Chicago Cubs
League	National League
Division	East
Ballpark	Wrigley Field
City	Chicago
Owners	Tribune Company
General managers	Dallas Green
Managers	Jim Frey, John Vukovich, Gene Michael
Television	WGN-TV/Superstation WGN (Harry Caray, Steve Stone, Dewayne Staats)
Radio	WGN (Dewayne Staats, Vince Lloyd, Lou Boudreau, Harry Caray)
Stats	ESPN.com Baseball Reference
← 1985 Seasons 1987 →

Offseason

• November 9, 1985: Ced Landrum was signed as an amateur free agent by the Cubs.^[1]
• December 11, 1985: Dave Owen was traded by the Cubs to the San Francisco Giants for Manny Trillo.^[2]
• December 20, 1985: Derek Botelho was released by the Chicago Cubs.^[3]
• January 13, 1986: Larry Whitford (minors) and Rich Rembielak (minors) were traded by the Cubs to the Milwaukee Brewers for Mike Martin.^[4]
• January 14, 1986: Jerome Walton was drafted by the Cubs in the 2nd round of the 1986 Major League Baseball draft. Player signed May 12, 1986.^[5]
• January 15, 1986: Steve Christmas was signed as a free agent by the Cubs.^[6]
• January 17, 1986: Gary Jones (minors) and John Cox (minors) were traded by the Cubs to the Oakland Athletics for Phil Stephenson and Bob Bathe (minors).^[7]
• February 1, 1986: Matt Keough was signed as a free agent by the Cubs.^[8]

Regular season

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

NL East

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Mets	108	54	.667	—	55‍–‍26	53‍–‍28
Philadelphia Phillies	86	75	.534	21½	49‍–‍31	37‍–‍44
St. Louis Cardinals	79	82	.491	28½	42‍–‍39	37‍–‍43
Montreal Expos	78	83	.484	29½	36‍–‍44	42‍–‍39
Chicago Cubs	70	90	.438	37	42‍–‍38	28‍–‍52
Pittsburgh Pirates	64	98	.395	44	31‍–‍50	33‍–‍48

Record vs. opponents

1986 National League record v t e Sources:
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	9–3	6–12	5–13	10–8	4–7	4–8	4–8	5–7	12–6	7–11	6–6
Chicago	3–9	—	5–7	4–8	6–6	8–10	6–12	9–8	7–11	6–6	6–6	10–7
Cincinnati	12–6	7–5	—	4–14	10–8	7–5	4–8	7–5	10–2	9–9	9–9	7–5
Houston	13–5	8–4	14–4	—	10–8	8–4	5–7	6–6	6–6	10–8	9–9	7–5
Los Angeles	8–10	6–6	8–10	8–10	—	5–7	3–9	5–7	8–4	6–12	8–10	8–4
Montreal	7–4	10–8	5–7	4–8	5–7	—	8–10	8–10	11–7	4–8	5–7	9–9
New York	8–4	12–6	8–4	7–5	9–3	10–8	—	8–10	17–1	10–2	7–5	12–6
Philadelphia	8-4	8–9	5–7	6–6	7–5	10–8	10–8	—	11–7	6–6	9–3	6–12
Pittsburgh	7–5	11–7	2–10	6–6	4–8	7–11	1–17	7–11	—	8–4	4–8	7–11
San Diego	6–12	6–6	9–9	8–10	12–6	8–4	2–10	6–6	4–8	—	8–10	5–7
San Francisco	11–7	6–6	9–9	9–9	10–8	7–5	5–7	3–9	8–4	10–8	—	5–7
St. Louis	6–6	7–10	5–7	5–7	4–8	9–9	6–12	12–6	11–7	7–5	7–5	—

Opening Day starters

• Jody Davis
• Brian Dayett
• Bob Dernier
• Shawon Dunston
• Leon Durham
• Keith Moreland
• Ryne Sandberg
• Rick Sutcliffe
• Manny Trillo^[9]

Notable transactions

• May 2, 1986: Terry Francona was signed as a free agent by the Cubs.^[10]
• June 14, 1986: Matt Keough was released by the Cubs.^[8]
• July 15, 1986: Steve Lake was released by the Cubs.^[11]

Roster

1986 Chicago Cubs
Roster
Pitchers 48 Jay Baller 39 Ron Davis 33 Frank DiPino 43 Dennis Eckersley 31 Ray Fontenot 39 George Frazier 45 Dave Gumpert 44 Drew Hall 50 Guy Hoffman 33 Matt Keough 37 Ed Lynch 31 Greg Maddux 49 Jamie Moyer 44 Dick Ruthven 21 Scott Sanderson 46 Lee Smith 40 Rick Sutcliffe 34 Steve Trout		Catchers 18 Steve Christmas  7 Jody Davis 16,29 Steve Lake 41 Mike Martin Infielders 11 Ron Cey 12 Shawon Dunston 10 Leon Durham 15 Davey Lopes 23 Ryne Sandberg 28 Chris Speier 19 Manny Trillo		Outfielders 27 Thad Bosley 24 Brian Dayett 20 Bob Dernier 16 Terry Francona  1 Dave Martinez 36 Gary Matthews  6 Keith Moreland 22 Jerry Mumphrey 15 Rafael Palmeiro 29 Chico Walker		Manager  8 Jim Frey  4 Gene Michael  2 John Vukovich Coaches  5 Rubén Amaro  3 Billy Connors  9 Johnny Oates  2 John Vukovich  4 Don Zimmer

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Jody Davis	148	528	132	.250	21	74
1B	Leon Durham	141	484	127	.262	20	65
2B	Ryne Sandberg	154	627	178	.284	14	76
SS	Shawon Dunston	150	581	145	.250	17	68
3B	Ron Cey	97	256	70	.273	13	36
LF	Gary Matthews	123	370	96	.259	21	46
CF	Bob Dernier	108	324	73	.225	4	18
RF	Keith Moreland	156	586	159	.271	12	79

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Jerry Mumphrey	111	309	94	.304	5	32
Davey Lopes	59	157	47	.299	6	22
Chris Speier	95	155	44	.284	6	23
Manny Trillo	81	152	45	.296	1	19
Terry Francona	86	124	31	.250	2	8
Thad Bosley	87	120	33	.275	1	9
Dave Martinez	53	108	15	.139	1	7
Chico Walker	28	101	28	.277	1	7
Rafael Palmeiro	22	73	18	.247	3	12
Brian Dayett	24	67	18	.269	4	11
Steve Lake	10	19	8	.421	0	4
Mike Martin	8	13	1	.077	0	0
Steve Christmas	3	9	1	.111	0	2

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Dennis Eckersley	33	201.0	6	11	4.57	137
Rick Sutcliffe	28	176.2	5	14	4.64	122
Scott Sanderson	37	169.2	9	11	4.19	124
Steve Trout	37	161.0	5	7	4.75	69
Jamie Moyer	16	87.1	7	4	5.05	45
Greg Maddux	6	31.0	2	4	5.52	20
Drew Hall	5	23.2	1	2	4.56	21

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Ed Lynch	23	99.2	7	5	3.79	57
Guy Hoffman	32	84.0	6	2	3.86	47

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Lee Smith	66	9	9	31	3.09	93
Ray Fontenot	42	3	5	2	3.86	24
Dave Gumpert	38	2	0	2	4.37	45
Jay Baller	36	2	4	5	5.37	42
George Frazier	35	2	4	0	5.40	41
Frank DiPino	30	2	4	0	5.18	43
Matt Keough	19	2	2	0	4.97	19
Ron Davis	17	0	2	0	7.65	10
Dick Ruthven	6	0	0	0	5.06	3

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Iowa Cubs	American Association	Larry Cox
AA	Pittsfield Cubs	Eastern League	Tom Spencer
A	Winston-Salem Spirits	Carolina League	Jim Essian
A	Peoria Chiefs	Midwest League	Pete Mackanin
A-Short Season	Geneva Cubs	New York–Penn League	Jay Loviglio
Rookie	Wytheville Cubs	Appalachian League	Tony Franklin

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Winston-Salem^[12]

References

1. Ced Landrum at Baseball Reference
2. Manny Trillo at Baseball Reference
3. "Derek Botelho Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
4. Mike Martin at Baseball Reference
5. Jerome Walton at Baseball Reference
6. Steve Christmas at Baseball Reference
7. Phil Stephenson at Baseball Reference
8. Matt Keough at Baseball Reference
9. "1986 Chicago Cubs Roster". Baseball Almanac, Inc. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
10. Terry Francona at Baseball Reference
11. Steve Lake at Baseball Reference
12. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997

• 1986 Chicago Cubs season at Baseball Reference