Chicago Cubs manager teases big changes for month of June

The Cubs have injuries to worry about. Pitchers Porter Hodge and Shota Imanaga are expected to miss substantial time. Catcher Miguel Amaya is expected to miss four to six weeks due to an oblique injury.

With injuries starting to hit the Cubs even harder (at least in volume) than when they lost starting pitcher Justin Steele for the season, manager Craig Counsell told 670 The Score’s “Spiegel & Holmes Show” on Wednesday that he plans to make significant changes to the lineup and the bullpen to keep players fresh as the schedule ramps up in June.

“Part of the schedule starts as we go on the road on Tuesday, where it’s basically 26 games in 27 days. So that’s that’s the real kind of grind,” Counsell said.

“And that obviously means, you know, we’ll see some different lineups. And we’re going to have to be very cautious of our pitching and bullpen usage and things like that. So the Thursdays off has been a real, you know, I think it’s been a real plus.”

The Cubs could add help during the month. Cubs president Jed Hoyer said last week that the team would look to add pitching help via trade.

Counsell will try to keep the roster as healthy as possible so that Hoyer doesn’t have to make a desperate trade too early. Fortunately, most of the offensive lineup appears hot enough to win games if Chicago has to tinker with the lineup to get through a grueling schedule.