The Chicago Cubs are a playoff quality team, something that has been nearly impossible to say for the past 3-4 seasons. They have solid pieces that can take them to October, even if it may not be very far. Right now, pitching has been the struggling point, even though it is what carried them in the first half of the season. The Cubs have been relying on the same three bullpen guys (Julian Merryweather, Mark Leiter Jr., Adbert Alzolay) and they are clearly tiring. The starting rotation is hurt and resulting in the Cubs having to put up Javier Assad from the bullpen, who so far has been incredibly strong, but also Drew Smyly, who to be frank, has been awful. His last 15 games, he has a 7.52 ERA, in his last 7, it's 8.71. He lacks command and all his pitches seem to hit the middle of the strike zone. The rest of their rotation has been doing more of the same as they have all season, Steele being stellar, Hendricks doing ok, and Taillon doing alright (though far better than the beginning of the season). Their offense has been alright, but it could use a bit of a jolt. And the September 40-man call-up should help with that, but there are some options that could work to help the Cubs now, especially with their important Brewers series coming up. 

Jordan Wicks is probably the most obvious choice, since he targets exactly where the Cubs’ problem is. He is the Cubs’ #10 prospect. He has a 7-0 record with a 3.55 ERA between his starts in Double and Triple-A. This past month he has been great with a 2.45 ERA and opponents batting just .192 against him. He has a nasty and developed change-up paired with a strong fastball and decent slider. He doesn’t throw the hardest, high 80s to low 90s, but he is able to locate his pitches. And while it is tricky to give a rookie without big league experience a start during a playoff run, with what Smyly has produced, it can’t be that much worse. 

Pete Crow-Armstrong is another option that could help the offense. He has recently gotten called up to Triple-A, but has reached base safely in all 17 of those games. With Iowa, he is hitting .292 with an on-base percentage of .336 and a .942 OPS with 4 home runs. He is producing right when the Cubs need him too, and even better, he has speed and is an excellent defender. The Cubs do have a lot of outfielders right now, but at a point where these players are tiring, it could be useful to have a stellar defender that can hit with speed in their arsenal. He has the perfect skillset to give this team a boost, and his youthful energy and strong personality could just get him there. 

The Cubs have a top farm system. They have a top team. But this team has its weak points, and in an incredibly important stretch of the season, it might be time to give some of their top young guys a shot.