Chicago Cubs Should Give Impressive Veteran Reliever Shot at Starting Rotation

The Chicago Cubs have been far from a perfect team this season, and all year long have been much stronger on the offensive side than in the pitching department.

This was likely already a known fact going into the year. However injuries and inconsistency in the starting rotation have tested Chicago even more than they were already expcted to be tested.

The rotation received a massive boost this week when injured left-handed ace Shota Imanaga returned from the injured list. However Imanaga alone is not enough to make this rotation into the kind of unit that can make a deep run in October.

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As a result, the Cubs have been linked to numerous trade possibilities for starting pitching, and make no mistake, moves absolutely have to be made in that area.

There is a pitcher currently in the bullpen who is looking capable of providing a massive spark to the rotation if he is given the opportunity.

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With Ben Brown sent down to Triple-A to tune some things up, Chicago is in need of someone who can be a quality opener and set up the bullpen to be able to close out victories.

When the Cubs signed Chris Flexen to a minor league deal, it went relatively undiscussed. But since being promoted in May, the 30-year-old has done nothing but absolutely deal in his limited opportunities.

Over 15 appearances totaling 28 innings this year in the big leagues, Flexen is pitching to an absurd 0.64 ERA and 0.857 WHIP, allowing just a total of 16 hits on the year.

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Though it was too little too late, Flexen had probably his best outing of the season in the series-opening loss to the Houston Astros on Friday night with four scoreless frames along with just two hits and one walk allowed.

Flexen is not going to be a dominant ace out of nowhere in the eighth year of his MLB career, but he certainly could be capable of providing a major boost to the rotation with the way he is dealing right now.

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Sliding Flexen into the role that is now vacated by Brown and at least seeing what you have there has to be a logical experiement for a team that is in desperate need of someone to emerge.

As the trade deadline approaches and Chicago prepares to make a deal for some starting pitching, giving Flexen a chance to prove his value in that role seems like a logical thing to do.

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