Top 5 Chicago Cubs players feeling the heat in the final month

The Chicago Cubs are battling for a postseason berth – but some players are undoubtedly feeling more pressure to perform than others.

The Chicago Cubs have so many players filling multiple roles it’s difficult to decide who among them will feel the most pressure down the stretch. It’ll take everything clicking for the team to win another division crown – but you can never say never, I suppose. We pulled the 25-man roster heading into this month and ordered the top five Cubs players who could be feeling the heat to perform this month. Who do you think is under the most pressure?

5. Nicholas Castellanos – Don’t think this sudden rush of Chicago-fame isn’t taking its toll on the Cubs outfielder. While Castellanos may love the big market attention he’s getting from Chicago sports fans, he is also quite aware of how fleeting that admiration can be the moment his bat goes silent for few games.

Luckily enough for Cubs fans and Castellanos, he is on a streak of hitting and home runs that is tough to ignore. Just in the door after being added at the trade deadline, the 27-year-old outfielder has hit 11 home runs and finished the month of August with a 1.098 OPS. Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon felt such affinity for his new horse; he’s slotted him at the number two lineup position consistently.

With all the success, comes the speculation if the outfielder will return to the Cubs next season or if the team might make some kind of preemptive offer to keep him on the North Side. Castellanos knows this month and the possible postseason will surely determine his fate for being a Cub next season. That’s not a lot of time to perform, which is why he is hitting like he’s trying to make up for lost time and our fifth most Cub feeling the pressure this month.