Chicago Cubs: 4 things that can stop their World Series aspirations

Injuries to the starting staff

This is one that hit the Cubs last year, and it’s prevalent to all teams every season. The Cubs have assembled a strong staff, with Yu Darvish and Tyler Chatwood added to the mix of Jon Lester, Kyle Hendricks and Jose Quintana. Mike Montgomery may see some time as a No. 6 starter, which could work out well if a player should miss any time with an injury.

More from Cubbies Crib

• Cubs should keep close eye on non-tender candidate Cody Bellinger
• Cubs starting pitching has been thriving on the North Side
• Make no mistake: the Cubs are very much about power hitters
• Cubs are giving pitcher Javier Assad a deserved shot
• Cubs: It’s time to start thinking about potential September call-ups

What the Cubs can’t afford is to lose two of their starters. Pitching depth is not the Cubs strong suit in the minors, at least not yet.

And by chance, if the Cubs were to lose a starter and have to go get another one due to the injury, it would take away from whatever else they might need. The reason that the 2016 staff was so dominant was they missed very few starts.

John Lackey was the only one to not start at least 30 games, and he missed only by one. Continuity within the rotation was critical.

Last year, just three of them hit that 30 start plateau, with a group of pitchers being needed to fill in. It’s something that no team wants to battle, especially if you’re the Cubs.