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Cubs’ Need to Upgrade Position Deemed ‘Most Urgent’ in MLB

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Jacob Mountz | Last updated Jun 13, 2025 11:30 AM ET

For the first time since 2016, the Cubs have built a team worthy of a World Series. However, the team took a few notable blows early in the season.

At the top of Jed Hoyer’s to-do list is finding a replacement for Justin Steele, who underwent season-ending elbow surgery in April, leaving a notable gap in the rotation.

With Steele gone, Shota Imanaga injured since early May, and Javier Assad down for a long period, the Cubs have relied heavily on Matthew Boyd, Jameson Taillon, and Cade Horton to hold the otherwise flailing rotation together. And while these three haven’t done poorly in place of their team’s injured trio, the rotation has been far from perfect.

One writer went a bit further, suggesting the Cubs are the contender that is most desperate for starting pitching at the trade deadline. When discussing every postseason hopeful’s most glaring need and which is most urgent, Eno Sarris of The Athletic labeled the Cubs as the team with the most urgent rotation problem.

“It’s not just that the Cubs’ rotation has been mediocre this far into the season — their starters have been below-average whether you use Wins Above Replacement, ERA or strikeout rate to rank them,” he wrote.

“What’s more worrisome is what their rotation is likely to do going forward. Over at FanGraphs, even with 81 more innings penciled in for Shota Imanaga, Chicago’s rotation is projected at 23rd. And this isn’t the case where a back-end arm is all the Cubs need: their top three starters are also bottom 10 in the league.

“With the Cubs’ offense coalescing (they’re second in the league in runs), and Kyle Tucker on an expiring deal, there’s increasing pressure on this front office to get an impact arm at the deadline. Who that guy is might be a mystery until more sellers identify themselves in coming weeks, but this team needs that impact arm more than any other.”

As a whole, the Cubs’ pitching staff owns a 3.70 ERA, ranking ninth in the MLB. It could definitely be worse, but in a postseason match, it could be a flaw that sends them home.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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