Identifying The Cubs' Biggest Weakness Heading Down The Stretch

Following a disappointing series against the Cincinnati Reds, the Chicago Cubs will now be getting set to face their rival, the St. Louis Cardinals.

Despite the Cardinals being sellers at the trade deadline, they are a team that has overachieved in 2025 and will likely be looking to play spoiler against their rival.

The Cubs have certainly come back down to earth a bit of late, and it doesn’t help that the Milwaukee Brewers are the hottest team in baseball. In the blink of an eye, Chicago has fallen multiple games behind the Brewers in the National League Central.

With the dust settling from the trade deadline, the Cubs need to build some momentum if they are going to keep up and try to chase down Milwaukee. Currently, with the team in a bit of a funk, especially on offense, there are rightfully some concerns.

At the trade deadline, one of the biggest surprises was that Chicago didn’t make a splash for their starting rotation. This was something that figured to be a lock after they lost Justin Steele for the year. However, they played it conservatively and only traded for Michael Soroka.

Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report recently wrote about the Cubs having some solid options in their rotation, but the unit, as of now, is their biggest weakness.

“As is the case in Boston, though, starts by anyone outside of that primary trio have been quite the adventure—and an adventure they inexplicably didn't seem too interested in fixing at the trade deadline.”

The rotation has been a topic of conversation for Chicago all season, and rightfully so. This is a unit that has been operating in the middle of the pack for most of the year, and the front office not making a significant upgrade could come back to bite them.

Fortunately, there are some positives about the unit. Matthew Boyd has been one of the top signings of the offseason and was named to the NL All-Star team. Even though he has pitched a lot more innings already than in recent campaigns, he has shown no signs of slowing down.

Who is the Ace?

In a potential playoff series, it very well could be Boyd on the mound for the Cubs in Game 1.

After Boyd, Shota Imanaga hasn’t been quite as good as he was in 2024, but the southpaw has been very solid. Furthermore, youngster Cade Horton might be finding his groove with some more experience and figures to be their third option.

Chicago will also have some reinforcements for the unit coming back, hopefully this month, when Javier Assad and Jameson Taillon return.

Overall, the unit is the weakness of the team, but there is reason to believe that with returning players, they might be alright come playoff time.