One would expect a lot of things have gone right for the Chicago Cubs to open up a five-game lead in the National League Central, but that has not been the case with their starting rotation.
It took just one month for them to lose their top two starting pitchers, as Justin Steele suffered a season-ending elbow injury and Shota Imanaga landed on the injured list with a hamstring issue. Young right-handers Ben Brown and Cade Horton have been inconsistent at best, and veteran Jameson Taillon has allowed a league-leading 16 home runs despite a misleading 3.54 ERA. If not for one of Major League Baseball’s best offenses and the surprising heroics of journeymen Matthew Boyd and Colin Rea, the Cub's spotty rotation may have already sunk the team.
Even with Imanaga set to return in the coming weeks, it’s clear the Cubs rotation is a notch below the other National League contenders. As the trade deadline looms and the Cubs begin to set their sights on October, the Cubs will be active in pursuit of a frontline starter, and Newsweek’s Andrew Wright believes they could find a surprising match in reigning Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale.
“Sale is not a name that would've been thought of at the beginning of the season, but he has now become an intriguing option due to the struggles from the Atlanta Braves,” Wright wrote. “Chicago's pitching staff has the seventh-fewest number of strikeouts, so the punchout ability and stuff that Sale has would be an excellent addition.”
Even as the Atlanta Braves have collapsed around him, Sale has continued to be one of the best pitchers in baseball, ranking seventh in the National League with a 2.79 ERA and second in strikeouts with 107. Though Sale has an $18 million club option for 2026 that is almost certain to be picked up, the 36-year-old would undoubtedly welcome an opportunity to pitch in the postseason after missing the Braves Wild Card series last season, and this year's Braves squad is already 9.5 games out of the third Wild Card spot.
Sale is not without his risks, however, both in terms of the prospect capital it would take to acquire a pitcher of his caliber and his lengthy injury history. Yet if the Cubs are serious about maximizing this current contention window, which may be the only one they get with impending free agent Kyle Tucker, they would make a strong push for the future Hall of Famer.
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