Chicago Cubs News: Selling seems likely, Nick Madrigal injury, and more

Chicago Cubs inching closer to selling at the Major League Baseball Trade Deadline

When Bruce Levine of 670 The Score suggested last week that the Chicago Cubs will be sellers at the Major League Baseball Trade Deadline, admittedly, there was an overreaction. At the time, the Cubs were in the middle of a three-game losing streak but prior to that, the team had won 11 of their previous 13 games and the entire leadership group of the organization was adamant that the team would be buyers at the Major League Baseball Trade Deadline.

Now, the Cubs have lost 7 of their last 8 games with their latest loss being a deflating defeat against the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday. The Cubs are now 7 games under the .500 mark on the season and 7 games behind the Brewers for first place in the National League Central Division.

Barring the Cubs shifting their momentum and taking the next three games against the Brewers, the team will be sellers at the Major League Baseball Trade Deadline. We are in the month of July, the All-Star Break is next week and the Cubs are in a stretch that mirrors their losing streak in 2021 that ignited the team's first sell-off after winning the World Series in 2016.

Nick Madrigal seems headed for the IL

Chicago Cubs third baseman Nick Madrigal was removed from Monday's game against the Brewers early due to a hamstring injury. Madrigal, since his return from Triple-A on June 9, had become the player that the Cubs were hoping they were acquiring when they made the trade for him in 2021. Since June 9, Madrigal has a slash line of .328/.409/.466 with a wRC+ 144. Patrick Wisdom, who had been on a rehab assignment with the Iowa Cubs, was scratched from Monday's game for the I-Cubs and that may be an indicator that he will be activated as a corresponding move for Madrigal being placed on the IL.

Chicago Cubs pitching prospect Daniel Palencia being promoted

It would appear that the Chicago Cubs are on the verge of promoting fireballer pitching prospect Daniel Palencia to the Major League level.

Palencia has a fastball that can reach triple digits and has been pitching as a reliever exclusively since he was promoted to Triple-A Iowa earlier this season. Palencia has been hit with some bad luck since his promotion to Iowa as he has an ERA of 7.90 at the Triple-A level but his advanced metrics suggest that he has been better as his FIP is at 4.09 while striking out 27.3% of the batters he has faced.