Chicago Cubs Keeping Eye on Two Veteran Starters As Team Prepares for Japan Series

The Chicago Cubs open up their season March 18 in Tokyo, Japan with two games against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The early ramp-up for starting pitchers could be a problem in terms of injuries.

Chicago has already named their two starting pitchers for the two games. Shota Imanaga will rightfully start game one while Justin Steele will take the ball in game two. Both of these left-handed pitchers are healthy, and they are going to be ready to make a relatively normal start when their season opens overseas.

However, the mid-March opening day has been tough for some of their other pitchers.

Javier Assad, who was in line to be the most likely No. 5 starter, is dealing with an oblique injury. This will cause him to start the season on the IL. Chicago does have Matthew Boyd, Jordan Wicks, Ben Brown and Colin Rea to compete for the final two rotation spots.

However, there is still some time between now and opening day in Japan, and more injuries could easily arise. With that said, there are a few moves the Cubs can make via free agency if they want some proven veteran help.

Per Ken Rosenthal and Patrick Mooney of The Athletic (subscription required), Chicago has been keeping an eye on both Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn just in case more injuries happen because of the season starting 10 days early.

Gibson is coming off a very respectable season with the St. Louis Cardinals. He made 30 starts, and he has done that in each of those past three seasons, so he has the health. In those 30 starts, the right-hander finished with a 4.24 ERA and 151 strikeouts in 159.2 innings pitched.

The 37-year-old saw a decrease in his fastball velocity last season, and there is reason to believe that trend could continue in 2025. That could be a reason why he is still available, despite many teams needing a starting pitcher or two.

Lynn, on the other hand, worked on himself this offseason. He lost 20 pounds with the hopes of keeping his knee healthy.

The righty also pitched for the Cardinals last season, and he was a bit better than Gibson. He made 23 starts, threw 117.1 innings, struck out 109 batters and owned a 3.84 ERA. That was his best year since 2021, and he could be a good option.

There has been some chatter of Lynn moving to the bullpen, but the Cubs would hope for him to be a place holder while Assad rehabs his oblique.

Now, Chicago does not have the room to promise either of these pitchers a long-term role on the team. Still, if more pitchers get hurt, the Cubs could look to fill some holes with one of these two pitchers.

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