Five moves the Chicago Cubs must make to have a chance

Forget the upcoming trade deadline. If the Chicago Cubs don’t make at least some of the following moves, their season may end in a self-inflicted manner.

There’s nothing to quell any optimism about the Chicago Cubs like going out and opening a nine-game road trip with another late-inning letdown. It really puts the pep in your step and makes you want to get out of bed the next morning.

Chicago continued its horrendous road play on Monday night, dropping a 5-4 decision to the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park. San Francisco’s three-run eighth inning overshadowed Robel Garcia‘s early shot into McCovey Cove or Kyle Schwarber‘s tank into the right-field seats. No one will talk about those moments. Instead, the usual cast of characters will steal the show.

Albert Almora failed to come up with a ball in the eighth that proved costly – you can debate whether or not he should’ve made a play on it, but given his offensive performance to-date, he basically has to catch anything within a country mile to give any degree of reasonable value.

Oh, and the man on the mound in that fateful eighth? You guessed it – Pedro Strop, the team’s longtime bullpen anchor who hasn’t been able to string together quality outings for quite some time. Again, the team’s bullpen shortcomings were on full display in the loss.

So while we’re all clamoring for an impact bat that will crush lefty pitching (I’m talking, of course, about Nicholas Castellanos) or some shutdown arms to bridge the gap between the starters and closer Craig Kimbrel, perhaps we should back up a moment and consider these internal moves that must be made if this team wants to have any shot at the postseason in 2019.