Current State of Cubs Pitching Staff Is Concerning With Postseason Aspirations

It has been a fantastic first couple of months for the Chicago Cubs, who have been able to overpower a lot of teams on their way towards owning first place in the NL Central division.

The Cubs are certainly a team that has been living up to their potential after a strong offseason. Chicago has emerged as one of the best offenses in the league with arguably the most complete lineup in all of baseball.

Furthermore, while they have a lot of depth throughout the order, they also have some true star power with Pete Crow-Armstrong and Kyle Tucker.

Each outfielder is having an MVP-caliber campaign so far, and it’s hard to say which one has been better this year.

While the offense has been firing on all cylinders, the roster isn't perfect.

Do Chicago Cubs Need To Add Arms?

Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report recently wrote about the Cubs needing to upgrade their pitching staff with far too many potential issues for the unit if they want to be successful in October.

“The prospect of banking on at least two of Jameson Taillon, Matt Boyd, and Colin Rea for postseason starts—not to mention needing to trust anyone from this bullpen in a save situation—is more than a bit concerning.”

While Chicago might have the best offense in the league, there are going to need more than just that if they want to win a World Series this year.

The starting rotation was solid on paper coming into the campaign, but injuries to both Justin Steele and Shota Imagana have left the unit lacking front-end talent.

While Imanaga will be back, Steele has been lost for the rest of the season, so that production will need to be replaced.

Even if both were healthy, another starter made sense for the Cubs considering some of the teams and starting rotations they will be facing in October.

Furthermore, while the rotation has some issues, so does the bullpen.

This was a unit the team tried to improve in the winter, but the notable acquisition of Ryan Pressly hasn’t quite worked out like the team envisioned.

Because of that, adding at least one more high-leverage arm capable of closing out games makes sense for Chicago.

he offense is certainly capable of carrying them into the playoffs, but they will need some upgrades in their pitching staff if they are going to truly be a contender.

More From Cubs On SI