How the Upcoming Road Trip Will Shape Cubs’ Trade Deadline Strategy
The Cubs are coming off of what is fair to say as a disappointing series loss vs the Detroit Tigers.
The team saw an opportunity slip by in game one, where Seiya Suzuki and Alex Bregman both struck out, leaving the bases loaded and a chance to win.
Instead, the Tigers won 8-6 and set themselves up to win game three, 5-1.
Now the Cubs must turn focus to a road trip that is set to define what could happen at the deadline.
Pirates, Cardinals Matchups
The Cubs, going into the Pirates series on Friday, had a 3-4 record vs. them. Cubs have a 5-game advantage, but that can quickly change with this series. It obviously was gonna be a challenge facing Jared Jones, Paul Skenes, and Braxton Ashcraft. The offense was gonna have to grind out their chances and take advantage of opportunities. In game one, it was helped by a Matthew Boyd masterclass.
The Cubs were only able to muster one run vs the Pirates in regulation.
That was courtesy of Pete Crow-Armstrong (PCA) launching one in the sixth off of Jones.
The 10th looked as though it was gonna be a scoreless inning again. Dansby Swanson, though, got a fastball and blasted it into center. Ian Happ (who was the ghost runner at 2nd to start the inning) slid just in time to beat the tag.
2-1 Cubs
Then PCA was intentionally walked to load the bases. Yohan Ramirez, who started the entire 10th, couldn’t throw strikes vs Seiya Suzuki and walked in another Cubs run.
3-1 Cubs
Pirates did score their ghost runner but never came close to putting any pressure on Gavin Hollowell, and the Cubs closed game one victorious.
It was a good start to a series that is expected to continue to be difficult. However, if the Cubs continue to get pitching performances like what Boyd did, then anything is possible any given day.
Looking Ahead
The MLB Trade Deadline is August 3rd. That is coming fast in a little over a week. If the Cubs want Jed Hoyer to push chips forward, they must continue to play good baseball and, most importantly, win. Obviously, you would look at pitching reinforcements.
Should be a pretty exciting week leading up to the deadline. Many names floated out there.
Will the Cubs make a big splash?
I don’t have that answer, but this series vs. the Pirates and the Cardinals could go one way: telling the Cubs front office to give the team a boost toward October.
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