Kevin Alcantara is sending a loud message that the Cubs can no longer ignore

Thursday's scheduled off-day couldn't have come at a better time for a Chicago Cubs team that's dropped five straight to fall out of first place in the NL Central. It's been a rough stretch of uninspiring baseball, capped off with a pair of defensive miscues from arguably the best defender in the game in center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong.

The offense has been horrendous in May. As a team this month, the Cubs are batting just .210 - the second-lowest mark in the National League, which pairs nicely with a .345 slugging percentage that also ranks 14th in the Senior Circuit. Bright spots are few and far between and, while there's no reason to think this is the beginning of the end, it's been a truly remarkable display of inept play from Craig Counsell's club.

A three-game sweep at the hands of the rival Brewers just added insult to injury and, already, the fans are clamoring for change this weekend with the Houston Astros in town. No, Pete Crow-Armstrong isn't getting demoted to Iowa, so don't even throw that out there. There is one move, though, that could serve a two-fold purpose for the Cubs.

Calling up top prospect Kevin Alcantara.

Kevin Alcantara could give 2 struggling Cubs outfielders chance to reset

Alcantara has gotten off to a monster start for Iowa, ranking third in all of Minor League Baseball with 15 home runs (which paces all Triple-A players). Entering action Thursday, the 23-year-old is slashing .245/.335/.574(121 wRC+). A .329 ISO speaks to the pure power we've seen from him in the early-going and, while that's not a sustainable number, it certainly makes you think.

The strikeouts are still a concern, which is probably why he hasn't spent any time with the big-league team to this point, but there's no questioning the power he can bring - something the Cubs are sorely lacking of late.

He'd give Counsell some options in the outfield and wouldn't require a dramatic roster move (just dump Nicky Lopez again to create the open spot). With Crow-Armstrong having a pretty all-around awful week and Ian Happ turning heads in all the wrong ways at the plate, having Alcantara as an option could be helpful as the Cubs look to turn the page on a tough recent stretch and get back to winning baseball heading into Memorial Day weekend.

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