One Area Continues To Linger As Top Concern For Cubs This Season

Despite the strong season for the Chicago Cubs, they are still chasing down the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central.

The Cubs have been one of the best teams in baseball this season but are no longer in first place within their own division. Due to the Brewers being one of the hottest teams, it has pushed Chicago to the back burner in the NL Central.

Even though the Brewers stayed the course for the most part at the trade deadline, the Cubs were a team that made a number of additions. This was to be expected by Chicago, who had some clear needs, but they might not have done enough.

For their starting rotation, they only added Michael Soroka from the Washington Nationals. Unfortunately, Soroka was injured in his first start, and now the disappointing deadline for Chicago has only been amplified.

Bradford Doolittle of ESPN recently wrote about the biggest lingering concern for the Cubs being their lack of frontline pitching.

“What the staff needed was some dynamism, whether one of the top closers who moved or a top-of-the-rotation starter. Given Kyle Tucker's walk-year contract status, a more all-in mindset was justified.”

Coming into the deadline, Chicago figured to be a team that was going to be aggressively trying to improve their starting rotation. This is a unit that has had some flaws, and they knew that they were going to be without Justin Steele for the rest of the campaign.

With Soroka being the lone addition to the rotation, this is certainly a concern for the team moving forward.

Who is leading the rotation?

Chicago Cubs starter Matthew Boyd — Aug 2, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Matthew Boyd (16) wearing number 23 in honor the late Hall of Fame second baseman Ryne Sandberg delivers a pitch against the Baltimore Orioles during the first inning at Wrigley Field. | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

As of now, the rotation is being led by All-Star Matthew Boyd. The southpaw has been a great signing for the team and has been their best pitcher this season. However, he is in uncharted territory in terms of innings pitched, which has been a concern for the team.

After Boyd, both Shota Imanaga and Cade Horton have pitched well, but both struggle going deep into games. Of Imanaga’s 15 starts, only five them are classified as a quality start. Horton only has three quality starts to his name.

Adding another front-line starter would have been good for the rotation at the deadline. Now, the Cubs will likely be at a disadvantage in most potential playoff series against other teams in the NL in starting pitching matchups.

As Chicago gets set for the last two months of the year, the rotation is going to be something to keep an eye on. The recent injury to Soroka certainly isn’t ideal, and a unit that needed some help could end up holding the team back.

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