Cubs shake up the starting rotation as a key young arm returns from the IL

Winners of a season-high five consecutive contests and just four games out of a wild-card spot with 26 games to play, the Chicago Cubs are bringing in reinforcements heading into September. Left-hander Jordan Wicks, who hasn't pitched in a big league game since mid-June, will return and start against the Washington Nationals on Sunday in D.C.

Originally, the Cubs planned for Jameson Taillon to start the finale, but he'll be pushed back in lieu of Wicks, giving Craig Counsell the chance to shuffle his rotation heading into a six-game homestand against the Pirates and Yankees that kicks off on Monday at Wrigley Field.

Chicago is very much in the mix for a postseason spot, thanks to a month of .700 baseball, capped by winning eight of their last nine. A healthy, effective Wicks could provide a nice boost to the rotation, potentially giving Counsell an option outside of Kyle Hendricks to round out the starting five in September. After being more or less serviceable for the last two months, the Pirates torched Hendricks last week, once again raising calls for his removal from the rotation by fans.

Jordan Wicks could be a major shot in the arm for the Cubs

On the year, Wicks has started just seven games, totaling 28 innings. That's not much to go off, but he entered the year with a decent amount of buzz given how he performed in 2023 in his first taste of MLB action. The question now is whether he's shaken off the rust in his rehab starts and is ready to jump right back in and help this team make an unlikely playoff push.

The former first-rounder could wind up being a difference-maker for Chicago. Thankfully, the offense is on a historic roll over the last week-plus because the bullpen had to cover 7 1/3 innings in Hendricks' last start and, with Jorge Lopez shelved for a couple days with a groin issue, Counsell has playing with a half-full deck.

Wicks' return - and the expansion of rosters on Sept. 1 - should bolster the pitching staff and set the Cubs up to continue this late-season hot streak that has fans paying a bit more attention to the box score than they've given much of the year.