Biographical

Randy Wells P

Career Summary

Years	G	IP	W	L	SV	ERA	WARP
11	98	529	28	32	0	4.08	3.2

Birth Date	8-28-1982
Height	6' 5"
Weight	230 lbs

Age	42 years, 11 months, 23 days
Bats	R
Throws	R

WARP Summary

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MLB Statistics

Historical (past-seasons) WARP is now based on DRA..
cFIP and DRA are not available on a by-team basis and display as zeroes(0). See TOT line for season totals of these stats.
Multiple stints are are currently shown —Click to hide.

YEAR	Team	Lg	G	GS	IP	W	L	H	BB	SO	HR	PPF	H/9	BB/9	HR/9	K/9	GB%	BABIP	WHIP	FIP	ERA	cFIP	DRA	DRA-	WARP
2008	CHN	0	3	0	4.3	0	0	0	2	1	0	110	0.0	4.2	0.0	2.1	0%	.000	0.46	4.02	0.00	121	6.48	138.3	-0.1
2008	TOR	0	1	0	1.0	0	0	0	1	0	0	91	0.0	9.0	0.0	0.0	0%	.000	1.00	6.15	0.00	116	6.52	139.0	0.0
2009	CHN	MLB	27	27	165.3	12	10	165	46	104	14	98	9.0	2.5	0.8	5.7	0%	.288	1.28	3.83	3.05	96	3.95	84.6	3.0
2010	CHN	MLB	32	32	194.3	8	14	209	63	144	19	97	9.7	2.9	0.9	6.7	0%	.311	1.40	3.95	4.26	99	4.70	106.1	1.3
2011	CHN	MLB	23	23	135.3	7	6	141	47	82	23	100	9.4	3.1	1.5	5.5	0%	.275	1.39	5.07	4.99	118	5.19	120.6	-0.2
2012	CHN	MLB	12	4	28.7	1	2	35	24	14	1	102	11.0	7.5	0.3	4.4	0%	.333	2.06	5.33	5.34	135	7.53	172.7	-0.9
2008	TOT	MLB	4	0	5.3	0	0	0	3	1	0	107	0.0	5.1	0.0	1.7	0%	.000	0.56	4.42	0.00	120	6.49	138.5	-0.1
Career		MLB	98	86	529.0	28	32	550	183	345	57	99	9.4	3.1	1.0	5.9	47%	.293	1.39	4.28	4.08	105	4.76	107.0	3.2

Statistics for All Levels

'opp' stats - Quality of opponents faced - have been moved and are available only as OPP_QUAL in the Statistics reports now.
Minor league stats are currently shown —Click to hide.

YEAR	Team	Lg	LG	G	GS	IP	W	L	SV	H	BB	SO	HR	PPF	H/9	BB/9	HR/9	K/9	GB%	BABIP	WHIP	FIP	ERA	cFIP	DRA	DRA-
2003	LNS	A	MDW	1	0	1.0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0		9.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0%	.333	1.00	3.16	0.00	0	0.00	0.0
2004	LNS	A	MDW	36	15	107.7	6	7	1	112	40	121	9		9.4	3.3	0.8	10.1	0%	.350	1.41	3.56	4.43	0	0.00	0.0
2005	DAY	A+	FSL	41	10	98.7	10	2	2	93	22	106	5		8.5	2.0	0.5	9.7	0%	-.647	1.17	2.72	2.74	0	0.00	0.0
2005	WTN	AA	SOU	6	0	9.3	0	1	1	13	7	4	0	18	12.6	6.8	0.0	3.9	0%	-1.182	2.15	4.74	3.87	122	8.24	162.5
2006	WTN	AA	SOU	12	12	62.1	4	2	0	45	13	54	2		6.5	1.9	0.3	7.8	0%	.246	0.93	2.42	1.59	0	0.00	0.0
2006	IOW	AAA	PCL	13	12	69.2	5	5	0	87	23	59	7	99	11.3	3.0	0.9	7.7	0%	.357	1.59	3.98	4.94	96	5.90	123.9
2007	IOW	AAA	PCL	40	9	95.7	5	6	2	100	41	101	11	115	9.4	3.9	1.0	9.5	0%	.333	1.47	4.35	4.51	91	4.18	85.8
2008	CHN	MLB	NL	3	0	4.3	0	0	0	0	2	1	0	110	0.0	4.2	0.0	2.1	0%	.000	0.46	4.02	0.00	121	6.48	138.3
2008	TOR	MLB	AL	1	0	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	91	0.0	9.0	0.0	0.0	0%	.000	1.00	6.15	0.00	116	6.52	139.0
2008	IOW	AAA	PCL	27	19	118.7	10	4	0	127	34	102	15	109	9.6	2.6	1.1	7.7	0%	.310	1.36	4.29	4.02	95	4.36	89.2
2009	CHN	MLB	NL	27	27	165.3	12	10	0	165	46	104	14	98	9.0	2.5	0.8	5.7	0%	.288	1.28	3.83	3.05	96	3.95	84.6
2009	IOW	AAA	PCL	5	5	26.0	3	0	0	19	7	21	1	84	6.6	2.4	0.3	7.3	0%	.250	1.00	3.14	2.77	88	2.97	62.6
2010	CHN	MLB	NL	32	32	194.3	8	14	0	209	63	144	19	97	9.7	2.9	0.9	6.7	0%	.311	1.40	3.95	4.26	99	4.70	106.1
2011	CHN	MLB	NL	23	23	135.3	7	6	0	141	47	82	23	100	9.4	3.1	1.5	5.5	0%	.275	1.39	5.07	4.99	118	5.19	120.6
2011	PEO	A	MID	1	1	3.7	0	1	0	6	0	1	0	89	14.7	0.0	0.0	2.5	0%	.353	1.64	2.81	2.45	104	6.52	133.1
2011	IOW	AAA	PCL	1	1	4.0	0	1	0	6	3	3	1	101	13.5	6.8	2.3	6.8	0%	.357	2.25	7.78	13.50	109	6.40	130.8
2012	CHN	MLB	NL	12	4	28.7	1	2	0	35	24	14	1	102	11.0	7.5	0.3	4.4	0%	.333	2.06	5.33	5.34	135	7.53	172.7
2012	IOW	AAA	PCL	9	9	43.3	3	3	0	52	18	29	6	91	10.8	3.7	1.2	6.0	0%	.317	1.62	5.57	7.89	119	7.16	149.1
2013	ROU	AAA	PCL	5	5	23.7	0	4	0	32	12	20	4	88	12.2	4.6	1.5	7.6	0%	.354	1.86	5.59	6.08	115	7.46	162.2

Plate Discipline

YEAR	Pits	Zone%	Swing%	Contact%	Z-Swing%	O-Swing%	Z-Contact%	O-Contact%	SwStr%
2008	54	0.5000	0.3519	0.8947	0.5185	0.1852	0.9286	0.8000	0.1053
2009	2516	0.4599	0.4539	0.8047	0.6171	0.3149	0.8754	0.6869	0.1953
2010	3058	0.4536	0.4601	0.7669	0.6395	0.3112	0.8512	0.6231	0.2331
2011	2155	0.4371	0.4404	0.7956	0.6348	0.2894	0.8980	0.6211	0.2044
2012	542	0.3579	0.3893	0.7678	0.5928	0.2759	0.8783	0.6354	0.2322
Career	8325	0.4453	0.4478	0.7866	0.6277	0.3036	0.8729	0.6438	0.2134

Injury History — No longer being updated

Last Update: 12/31/2014 23:59 ET

Date On	Date Off	Transaction	Days	Games	Side	Body Part	Injury	Surgery Date	Reaggravation
2012-07-15	-	Minors	-	-	Right	Elbow	Loose Bodies	2012-07-24	-
2011-04-06	2011-05-28	15-DL	52	44	Right	Forearm	Strain	-
2008-09-22	2008-10-05	DTD	13	7	Right	Forearm	Stress Fracture	-

Compensation

Year	Team	Salary
2012	CHN	$2,705,000
2011	CHN	$475,000
2010	CHN	$427,000

Years	Description	Salary
4 yr	Previous	$3,607,000
4 yr	Total	$3,607,000

Service Time	Agent	Contract Status
3 y 16 d		1 year (2013)

Details

1 year (2013). Signed by Texas as a free agent 12/6/12 (minor-league contract).
1 year/$2.705M (2012). Re-signed by Chicago Cubs 1/17/12 (avoided arbitration). DFA by Chicago Cubs 6/27/12. Sent outright to Triple-A 6/29/12.
1 year/$0.475M (2011). Re-signed by Chicago Cubs 3/11.
1 year/$0.427M (2010). Re-signed 2/10.
1 year/$0.402M (2009). Re-signed 2/25/09.
1 year (2008). Selected by Toronto from Chicago Cubs in Rule 5 draft 12/6/07. DFA 4/9/08, returned to Chicago Cubs 4/16/08. Contract purchased by Chicago Cubs 9/9/08.
Drafted 2002 (38-1,143).

2019 Preseason Forecast

Last Update: 1/27/2017 12:35 ET

PCT	W	L	SV	G	GS	IP	H	BB	SO	HR	BABIP	WHIP	ERA	DRA	VORP	WARP
Weighted Mean	?	?	?	?	?	0.0	?	0	0	?	.000	0.00	0.00	?	0.0	0.0

BP Annual Player Comments

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BP Articles

Click here to see articles tagged with Randy Wells

BP Chats

Date	Question	Answer
2011-02-02 13:00:00 (link to chat)	Is Randy Wells truly an underappreciated-particularly for the $- back-end starter ,or what? (Matt from Chicago)	Wells was so overrated for a while there that he may have swung back to the opposite end of the spectrum. As someone (or someones) pointed out at the time, the guy the Cubs traded most of their farm system for over the winter isn't a whole lot better than what they already had in Wells. (Ben Lindbergh)
2010-09-15 14:00:00 (link to chat)	I've been very frustrated by Randy Wells' inconsistency. Do you see anything in his peripherals that tells you I should lay off him a bit? (Matt from Chicago)	Without exaggeration, I get at least one Randy Wells question every time I have a chat. I am not sure what else I can say about the guy so I will repeat what I always write. I am not sure what people saw that made them think this was a future front of the rotation pitcher, but he isn't one. He is very similar to JA Happ, only without the deceptive delivery. Wells is about league average when it comes to strikeouts, walks, and home runs allowed, though he is good at keeping the ball on the ground. If he fills out a rotation, that's great, as his run prevention skills likely lie somewhere between his rates of this year and last, but this is not a future ace, and inconsistency should be expected. I wouldn't say lay off of him, but rather lay off of your expectations of him. This is a #4 starter, not a #2. (Eric Seidman)
2010-08-24 14:30:00 (link to chat)	What do you make of Randy Wells' sophomore campaign? Some of his peripherals have improved but he gets really torched about once a month. (Mark from Chicago)	Looks to me like he's pitching better than he did in his rookie season. The ERA's not as pretty, but the strikeout rate bodes better for the future. (Ben Lindbergh)
2010-08-17 14:45:00 (link to chat)	I don't know what to make of Randy Wells. His FIP and xFIP numbers have been decent but he gets just shelled about once a month. Any insights? (Matt from Chicago)	I have long been equating Wells to JA Happ, formerly of the Phillies and now of the Astros. Both pitchers have okay stuff, neither is dominant, neither is a future ace, but both have shown the ability to get batters out consistently. Pitchers like that are sort of boom or bust. They could put up the shiny ERAs like last year, or balloon to Wells's current 4.60. I believe Randy Wells is an okay pitcher, the kind that every team would love to have as a #4 while under team control, but he is not anything more than that. He is not a future front of the rotation stud, nor is he someone with oodles of potential moving forward. For the next few years he will be a cost-effective option in the rotation, but he isn't someone the Cubs should be looking to lock into a long-term deal or build around for the future. (Eric Seidman)
2010-04-21 14:00:00 (link to chat)	When looking at his peripherals, do you find Randy Wells' performance sustainable? (Matt from Chicago)	Wells belongs to the same group as John Lannan in that guys of this ilk don't do anything that would make you think they should experience success at the big league level, but they do. I don't know if PITCHf/x is a route to take in exploring their attributes or something else, but they get batters out without blistering fastballs, oodles of movement, propensities for grounders, etc. Is Wells a sub-3.00 ERA pitcher? No, not a chance. But can he stick around with his skill-set? Of course. I could see him settling into that upper-3/lower-4 ERA area Lannan lives in and remaining a staple in the middle to back end of any rotation. (Eric Seidman)
2010-03-08 13:00:00 (link to chat)	There are a handful of players who've discovered vision problems this offseason or spring and are getting glasses (Nate McLouth, Corey Hart, Randy Wells, probably others). How do medical staffs miss this for so long, and how much effect is getting their vision corrected likely to have on their performance this year? (wilykat from San Francisco)	This one is fascinating to me. There's usually more to it than you see, but there's also changes. We're all aging, even McLouth, and our bodies change. I've certainly paid a lot more attention to my eyes lately! Suffice it to say that this is almost always on the player, not the med staff. (Will Carroll)
2010-03-04 13:00:00 (link to chat)	I have Happ and Randy Wells in a keeper league where I can keep 1 for $2. Both seem to be regression candidates, is it more than a coinflip or do you think one is surely better than the other? (mike from chicago)	Wells seems like he had a better year, but I think Happ may improve some in 2010 and have a better adjusted ERA. I'd go with Happ, especially since the Phils > Cubs. (Marc Normandin)
2010-02-11 13:00:00 (link to chat)	How would you rate in order the following pitchers by overall (short and long term) value? Johan Santana, Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Randy Wells, Derek Lowe and Josh Johnson. (caseyj15 from Medford, OR)	Short term: Santana, Johnson, Beckett, Lester, Lowe, Wells Long term: Santana, Johnson, Lester, Beckett, Wells, Lowe (Shawn Hoffman)
2010-01-06 13:00:00 (link to chat)	Are the Cubs best off choosing from internal bullpen options and spending their remaining dollars on a starter? If so, who could you see in play? (Matt from Chicago)	With Zambrano, Demptster, Lilly, and Randy Wells as the front four, and guys like Gorzelanny, Marshall and maybe Samardzija and - ooh, Carlos Silva - as candidates for the fifth, the Cubs' rotation is well stocked. Given the fact that they've got so much money already spent, any additional dollars are better spent elsewhere. (Jay Jaffe)
2009-07-21 13:00:00 (link to chat)	You think the Cubs can win the NL Central? Thoughts on Randy Wells? (Salmon from Chitown)	Can? Certainly. Will they? Hmmm.....I'm not sure who to peg as the likely winner. I know that I irked a lot of Cardinals fans at the beginning of the season when I picked them to finish near the bottom of the division. Clearly, they are a better team than I envisioned, and I readily admit to missing something. The Brewers MIGHT have enough, and presumably are exploring Halladay options. Without the Jay Bruce injury, I think the Reds would have contended late into September. So, my final answer....the Cubs probably fall short. (David Laurila)
2009-07-01 14:00:00 (link to chat)	Is Randy Wells a flash in the pan, a nice story for a team in a down year, a permanent solution to a rotation spot, none of the above? (Mike from Chicago)	If your definition of which rotation slot he solves is "fourth starter," I figure he can be all three at once. (Christina Kahrl)

BP Roundtables

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PITCHf/x Pitcher Profile

A Collaboration between BrooksBaseball.net and Baseball Prospectus - Pitch classifications provided by Pitch Info LLC

Although he has not thrown an MLB pitch in 2025, Randy Wells threw 8,467 pitches that were tracked by the PITCHf/x system between 2008 and 2013, all of them occuring in Spring Training. In 2013, he relied primarily on his Fourseam Fastball (90mph), also mixing in a Slider (82mph), Change (80mph) and Sinker (88mph).