Cubs: 3 obvious changes the team has to make to be a contender

Right now, everything’s coming up aces for the Chicago Cubs. The team has scored nearly 10 runs per game over the last week, is very much in the hunt for the NL Central and is seeing key players return to form offensively.

That being said, there are still some things that’ll have to change if this team wants to contend over the course of 162 games. This division looks like it could come right down to the wire yet again in 2021, and every game counts. That means the Cubs have some changes that need to be made – and they need to be made sooner rather than later.

Cubs: Stop wasting a roster spot on Eric Sogard

The first – and most obvious change this team needs to make is burning a spot on the 26-man roster with Eric Sogard. There is absolutely no reason Nico Hoerner shouldn’t be getting those reps that have gone to the longtime veteran early on this year.

David Bote is finally getting rolling offensively and can pair with Hoerner to handle the everyday duties at second base. Given the team’s wildly up-and-down offense, Hoerner can bring some much needed bat-to-ball skills to the mix when he’s in the lineup. Not to mention, when he’s paired up with Javier Baez up the middle, the Cubs have one of the best defensive tandems in all of baseball.

As for Sogard, he’s a soon-to-be 35-year-old who’s in the sunset years of his career. If this organization truly is focused on building the next winner on the North Side, then roll with Bote and Hoerner at second and send Sogard to South Bend. It’s time to stop wasting at-bats.

Cubs need to admit that Joc Pederson is purely a platoon player

Look, I get it. You told Joc Pederson he’d get the chance to hit lefties as much as righties. Well, guess what? It’s not working – and as nice as it would be to be able to let him work through this until June or July, the margin for error for this team is just too small to allow it to happen.

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Chicago placed Pederson on the 10-day IL with a wrist injury Friday, adding Hoerner to the roster to fill his spot. That means we’re going to see a combination of Kris Bryant, Jake Marisnick and Ian Happ in left in the meantime. Let’s hope when Pederson does return, we learn this wrist issue is what’s gotten him off to such a slow start.

Because what he’s done at the dish so far isn’t going to get the job done. Pederson is slashing .137/.262/.235 on the year. Against left-handers, it’s even worse, with the outfielder batting just .077/.143/.077. Yes, it’s a brutally small sample size. But the simple truth is this: the Cubs can field better lineups against southpaws without him.

With Hoerner up (which should remain the case after Pederson returns from the IL), you can roll with Hoerner at second, Bote at third and Bryant in left against lefties. That trio is going to add a ton of offensive value in these matchups – and we’ve seen the last few days what a properly constructed lineup is capable of doing.

We’re not here to appease players. We’re here to win (or at least, we should be). Maybe if Pederson comes back and starts hitting against right-handers, you give him a look against lefties here and there to give him shots. But until he has some momentum behind him, we’re setting the offense up to fail.