The Chicago Cubs have been rolling this season. They have the best record in the National League at 38-22, lead the NL Central by five games and are 8-2 in their last 10 games. However, they are dealing with injury issues to their starting rotation.
Former All-Star Justin Steele went down with a UCL injury in early April and is lost for the season after undergoing left elbow surgery. Javier Assad has yet to take the mound this season after being shut down in spring training with an oblique strain and re-aggravating the injury during a rehab start in Triple-A. Shota Imanaga has been down since May 4 with a hamstring strain.
Chicago’s starters are sixth in the NL in ERA (3.83), ninth in batting average allowed (.244) and tied for 10th in earned runs allowed (229).
If the Cubs want to make a deep October run, they need to upgrade their rotation. ESPN.com’s Cubs beat writer Jesse Rogers believes they should target a couple of pitchers from the struggling Arizona Diamondbacks — Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly. Gallen is 4-7 on the season with a 5.13 ERA and leads the NL with 33 walks, while Kelly is 5-2 with a 3.78 ERA.
“Gallen and Kelly have a lot of mileage on their arms these last few years,” Rogers told Sportsnaut’s Scott Gulbransen. “Gallen’s not pitching necessarily the way he did earlier in his career, but he could turn it around at any point and they have October experience, World Series experience. The Cubs need that.”
Rogers added: “I think either pitcher would look good here and look even better here with the assets that the Cubs have, especially in the bullpen.”
Both Gallen and Kelly are free agents after the season, so the Cubs wouldn’t have to part with top prospects to get a deal done. It’s looking likely the Diamondbacks will be sellers at the deadline. They are currently fourth in the NL West with a 29-31 record, 7.5 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers for first, and four games out of the last Wild Card spot. On top of that, ace Corbin Burnes is on the injured list with an elbow injury and could potentially miss significant time.
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