After landing the right free agents, Cubs will turn to more pitching at trade deadline

New York Times

2 days ago

For fans of the Chicago Cubs, this roaring start to the season has brought another kind of scoreboard watching: Following the underperforming teams that entered the year with playoff expectations, to see which ones crater before the July 31 trade deadline.
Have the Atlanta Braves hit 'rock bottom,' or would a deeper spiral put Chris Sale on the trade market? With Corbin Burnes needing Tommy John surgery, could the Arizona Diamondbacks get buried in the National League West and thereby make Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly available in trade negotiations? Will any front office in the American League East concede this year and reload for the future? Stay tuned.
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Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer anticipates it will be a seller's market and recognizes that pitching will be his club's biggest need this summer. Identifying starting pitchers and formulating an individualized player plan also happen to be organizational strengths. Jameson Taillon and Matthew Boyd, who have led the rotation while All-Star pitchers Shota Imanaga and Justin Steele are on the injured list, represent two good examples of the Cubs Way.
Tommy Hottovy, the longtime pitching coach who works closely with the front office to evaluate free agents and trade targets, has identified several traits the Cubs generally seek. Taillon and Boyd have command of multiple pitches, an ability to consistently throw strikes, a desire to improve and natural leadership qualities.
When Taillon signed a four-year, $68 million contract with the Cubs after the 2022 season, he added the sense of professionalism and expectations that he previously experienced with the New York Yankees. Always eager to talk ball and share information with teammates, Taillon is a great resource for young pitchers. As the Cubs finished with 83 wins and outside the playoffs in the last two seasons, Taillon became a voice of reason, expressing a mixture of disappointment, frustration and optimism.
'There's still a lot of season left, but this is the type of group that I envisioned,' Taillon said. 'This is what I envisioned us doing when I was here. You could feel it in that room. And I know it was probably annoying to hear us keep saying it: 'We know we're right on the verge of it.' And this year, you're just kind of feeling it all coming together.'
The Cubs are 40-25 after Sunday's 4-0 loss to the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park, where the American League's best team handed rookie pitcher Cade Horton the first loss of his major-league career and won a three-game series that, for early June, had some playoff parallels.
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To get through October, the Cubs know they will need more pitching. Horton, 23, came into this season with only 122 2/3 professional innings on his resume. Ben Brown has shown flashes of brilliance, matching up against Tigers ace Tarik Skubal and winning at Dodger Stadium, yet at this point, he has a 5.37 ERA and a negative WAR. Colin Rea has been a positive contributor, though his greatest value probably comes as a swingman.
Steele, meanwhile, is recovering from season-ending surgery on his left elbow. Javier Assad hasn't thrown a major-league pitch all year while dealing with an oblique injury. Imanaga, who has been sidelined with a strained left hamstring since May 4, is expected to return later this month.
In the interim, the Cubs will continue to lean on Taillon (6-3, 3.54 ERA) and Boyd (5-3, 3.01 ERA). Together, they have accounted for 145 innings and 17 of the club's 26 quality starts. Their know-how and attention to detail are also part of the team's identity and culture of preparation.
'To get to where you want to be,' Boyd said, 'you have to approach each day like it's the only thing that matters.'
One year ago, Boyd was coming back from Tommy John surgery, throwing in a showcase setting and trying to get traction on a major-league deal. The Cleveland Guardians shrewdly signed Boyd, who wound up starting three playoff games last October. When the Cubs invested in a lefty who has good stuff and a great reputation as a clubhouse influence, they anticipated the rising cost of pitching and finalized a two-year, $29 million contract before the Winter Meetings.
As good as Boyd, 34, has been for the Cubs, his last full major-league season came in 2019, a data point that can't be ignored as Hoyer and general manager Carter Hawkins explore their pitching options over the next seven-plus weeks.
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'I don't know what tomorrow holds, right?' Boyd said. 'I just know what I'm going to do when the ball is in my hand. That's the (way) it was (last May and June) when I didn't have a team and I was throwing in front of teams. I don't know what's going to happen in September. I don't know what's going to happen in August or July or tomorrow, for that matter.
'But when the ball is in my hand, I know what I'm going to do. I know what I'm commanded to do. I'll do that day after day. Whatever comes tomorrow, we'll deal with it.'
Given how the Cubs have successfully incorporated Boyd and Taillon — even Imanaga was largely overlooked and undervalued by the rest of the baseball industry when coming out of Japan — it wouldn't be surprising if their pitching infrastructure has some ideas about how to get Sandy Alcantara back on track. Alcantara, a one-time Cy Young Award winner, has a 7.89 ERA through 12 starts after Tommy John surgery with the Miami Marlins.
No matter how the Cubs bulk up their pitching staff at the trade deadline, they will keep emphasizing the importance of getting strike one and putting pressure on the opponent. Cubs manager Craig Counsell will continue searching for different ways to get 27 outs, using openers, leveraging the best bullpen arms and relying on a solid game-planning system. Cubs pitchers can also attack hitters, knowing Gold Glove-caliber defenders are positioned all over the field.
All those elements aren't entirely new, and reinforcements will be needed, but certain parts of the Cubs' blueprint are being accentuated.
'We had a great core in place,' Taillon said. 'We've added to it really well, and we've played really well, but there's a lot of year left. I think we've still got a lot of great baseball ahead of us.'
(Top photo of Jameson Taillon during Saturday's win: Duane Burleson / Getty Images)