3 minor league pitchers the Cubs need to get a look at down the stretch

With the trade deadline past, the Chicago Cubs can now focus the rest of the year on development and answering questions about the players they have. A miracle run toward the playoffs isn't likely, so the goal should be preparing for 2025 however they can. One area where they can start shaping the roster for the future is in the bullpen.

The Cubs didn't trade off nearly as many pieces as expected this year. Their reclamation project turned bullpen stalwart Mark Leiter Jr. was shipped off to the Yankees for a pair of solid Top-30 prospects, including future relief candidate Jack Neely, but the rest of the crew is still in place, including guys that were candidates to be moved like Hector Neris and Tyson Miller. They also added Nate Pearson in a deal with Toronto in hopes of tapping into his incredible raw stuff.

Fewer moves mean less room to try out some of their minor league arms that are knocking on the door of the majors. Still, the team must start to sort through guys on the 40-man to determine who their best options are to round out the current relief core. Ethan Roberts was already given the call-up in place of Leiter, but there are other guys who should be cycled in throughout the rest of the season. Let's look at three that especially need a shot at Wrigley in August and September.

1. Daniel Palencia

Daniel Palencia has been up and down with the Cubs throughout the year with very little to show for it thus far. In 11 innings pitched, he holds a 6.55 ERA and a 1.727 WHIP, albeit with a 3.43 FIP that indicates he was performing a bit better than the results say. He's going to remain on the team's radar though because of a big arm with closer potential, assuming he can cut down his walk rate.

Overall, Iowa hasn't been much kinder to him (6.43 ERA in 21 innings with 6.9 walks per nine), but he's started to put things together of late. Since returning from the injured list on June 3, he's only given up runs in three of the ten games he's appeared in, and while his ERA still isn't great (5.19), he's holding batters to a .194 batting average and .258 slugging percentage. The rub, again, is the walk rate which still gets him into trouble despite otherwise blowing hitters away.

Even with concerns about his control, he's still worth bringing back up for a spell for an extended look because of his ability to limit slug. Like many of the Cubs' young arms, he has the stuff to succeed at the big league level right now as long as the free passes are limited. His contemporaries Porter Hodge and Luke Little have either figured it out or have begun to settle in, and there's no harm in bringing him back up at some point to see if he can do the same.