As we near the two-month milestone before the Major League Baseball trade deadline, it’s already crystal clear what the Chicago Cubs need to do.
The Cubs have a top-five offense in the sport, but their starting pitching could be their undoing. Justin Steele is done for the year, Shota Imanaga has no set return date, and the rest of the rotation is pitching above their projections for now.
It’s obvious that the Cubs should go after at least one more starter at the deadline, but this early in the season, there aren’t many teams who are easy to predict as sellers. Much of the league is hovering around .500, and that’s all you need these days to convince yourself you’re in the playoff picture.
However, the floundering Baltimore Orioles could provide the Cubs a lifeline, according to one baseball analyst.
In a recent YouTube video, Jim Riley of BALLCAP Sports predicted that the Cubs would trade for Orioles starter Zach Eflin, whose three-year, $40 million contract expires at the end of the season.
“I do like a Zach Eflin idea here for the Chicago Cubs,” Riley said. “I still think Zach Eflin probably is one of the top five starting pitchers that will be available at the deadline, and that’s where the Cubs need to live.
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“They have to go out and get one of the top five starting pitchers that will be available.”
Eflin, 31, hasn’t had the greatest season if we’re going strictly by the numbers. In six starts, he has a 5.40 ERA and 6.14 FIP, with only 18 strikeouts in 33 1/3 innings. But he was extremely reliable in 2023 and 2024, with a combined 3.54 ERA in 59 starts.
If Eflin proves over the next two months that he’s still a solid number-three starter, it would make a lot of sense for Chicago to follow through on Riley’s prediction.
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