3 Chicago Cubs players who could be gone by June 1

After a hot start in April, the Cubs are scuffling in May with three series losses to the Washington Nationals, St. Louis Cardinals and Minnesota Twins already under their belts this month.

Fortunately most of the losses have been by a one or two runs and the Cubs have been one or two hits away from winning. That was, at least, the case until the series against the Twins where the two Cubs losses were by 11-1 and 13-6 scores, respectively. Despite Matt Mervis and Christopher Morel being called up, there is still room for improvement on the roster with many underperforming guys still receiving regular playing time.

Here are 3 players the Cubs can still get rid of to optimize their roster and put the best team on the field to win close ballgames.

3 Cubs players who could be gone by June 1 - #1: Michael Fulmer

The era of Michael Fulmer coming out of the Chicago Cubs bullpen is hopefully close to being over. The guy simply cannot be trusted to get outs. Yes, relievers should be expected to give up a few runs here and there, but Fulmer is giving up almost one run for every inning he pitches. His season ERA is 7.50 with a WHIP of 1.56 in 18 innings pitched. Not to mention his WAR is sitting at zero.

The Cubs thankfully only gave Fulmer $4 million for a one-year deal in a low-risk, high-reward move. They gave a similar deal to Brad Boxberger, who recently moved to the injured list in what seems like a phantom injury just to get him off the roster judging by David Ross' comments.

Fulmer has already been given multiple chances to turn things around but he continues to sport the worst ERA in the Chicago bullpen. If the Cubs are truly trying to win games, then he is not the guy to bring in for high leverage situations or at all for that matter. I'd rather see a young guy like Jeremiah Estrada, Bailey Horn or Cam Sanders given opportunities to prove themselves while the Cubs still have time to figure things out. Perhaps another phantom IL stint is in store for Fulmer.

3 Cubs players who could be gone by June 1 - #2: Eric Hosmer

Everyone has spoken ad nauseam about Eric Hosmer's poor performance, but it is truly unbelievable how many times he comes to the plate with runners in scoring position and has not come through. He just is not a guy you want in the lineup for his lack of clutch hitting. On the year,

Mervis, Trey Mancini, Cody Bellinger and Patrick Wisdom are all capable of playing first base so there is not a positional need for Hosmer and if his bat is not producing, he should not be taking up a roster spot no matter how big an influence he carries in the clubhouse.

I would rather see the Cubs carry three catchers like they did earlier in the season and replace Hosmer's spot on the active roster with Miguel Amaya. Tucker Barnahart will be around and there's nothing that can be done about that. But while you have veteran catchers like Barnhart and Yan Gomes on the team, Amaya should be at the big league level learning from them. He is the catcher of the future and he needs major league exposure now in order to succeed later.