{"id":794740,"date":"2026-09-02T10:51:36","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T10:51:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/794740\/"},"modified":"2026-09-02T10:51:36","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T10:51:36","slug":"chicago-cubs-can-the-pitching-be-consistent-in-september","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/794740\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago Cubs: Can the pitching be consistent in September?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Twenty-four games could define the Chicago Cubs\u2019 season.<\/p>\n

As they entered Tuesday night\u2019s matchup against the Milwaukee Brewers<\/a>, those are the remaining regular-season games that stand between\u00a0the Cubs and what they hope is a deep postseason run.<\/p>\n

How they finish will likely come down to the Cubs\u2019 pitching staff. The Cubs feature the best offense and best defense in baseball. The offensive group leads MLB in wRC+ (117), runs (742), walk rate (10.7%) and home runs (196). Their stellar defense puts them at a different level, as their 102 Defensive Runs Saved easily exceed the next-closest team, the Blue Jays (70) \u2014 no other big-league team has more than 50 DRS.<\/p>\n

President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer described the Cubs\u2019 position player group as \u201cthe backbone of our team.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reason we were aggressive with the trade deadline was to try to add consistency to the pitching staff,\u201d Hoyer said Tuesday. \u201cWe\u2019ve had so many injuries throughout the course of the year. In a lot of ways, the bullpen has pitched really well for long stretches. Obviously, that last road trip was not the case, and we blew some leads and blew some games that we haven\u2019t lost those kinds of games, but there\u2019s no question of what our strength is. We do need to get consistent starting pitching, throw strikes consistently, and hopefully let the position players do the work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their start to September featured the same pitching issues that have torpedoed too many leads into losses lately. The Cubs couldn\u2019t hold their three-run lead as a four-run sixth inning by the Brewers delivered a big blow in a 9-4 loss Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\"FansFans applaud as Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Matthew Boyd walks to the dugout after being pulled from the game in the sixth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Wrigley Field in Chicago on Sept. 1, 2026. (Chris Sweda\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

The bullpen was charged with six runs as four relievers \u2014 Daniel Palencia, Ryan Zeferjahn, Caleb Thielbar and Tyler Ferguson \u2014 combined to allow six hits, four walks, two home runs and two strikeouts over the final 3 2\/3 innings. Two of the three runs on starter Matthew Boyd\u2019s pitching line scored with Palencia on the mound, one of which came home on a balk.<\/p>\n

\u201cI need to execute my pitches better and it\u2019s been tough, yeah for sure, but this is baseball,\u201d Palencia said. \u201cI\u2019m going to have bad days and this is not me. I want the ball tomorrow and I\u2019m going to be ready.\u201d<\/p>\n

A pair of defensive plays in the sixth didn\u2019t help Boyd and Palencia, either. Second baseman Matt Shaw\u2019s awkward partial head-first slide in an attempt to stop William Contreras\u2019 groundball instead resulted in Shaw knocking it into right field for a double. Counsell then turned to Palencia to face Andrew Vaughn in the jam. After balking in a run, Vaughn sliced a ball toward the right-field wall along foul territory that Seiya Suzuki got his glove on but couldn\u2019t haul in. Contreras scored on the double to tie the game.<\/p>\n

Everything continued downhill from there for the Cubs as Christian Yelich followed with a two-run home run \u2014 the decisive blow.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese were very difficult plays, but we have to play great defense and we played good defense tonight,\u201d manager Craig Counsell said. \u201cAgainst the best team in baseball, you\u2019ve got to play great defense, and so we got our glove on a bunch of balls, didn\u2019t make plays, and that\u2019s the difference in innings when you let a good offense just have more chances. That\u2019s what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pitching woes \u2014 the early-season injuries and current bullpen issues \u2014 are threatening to waste stellar offensive and defensive performances this season for the Cubs (78-61).<\/p>\n

The Cubs\u2019 additions of right-handers Clay Holmes and Kevin Gausman<\/a> have played out exactly as Hoyer and the front office envisioned. The duo has helped stabilize the rotation, particularly Holmes, who has allowed just one run in his last four starts.<\/p>\n

\"ChicagoChicago Cubs starting pitcher Clay Holmes delivers to the Milwaukee Brewers in the first inning Aug. 31, 2026, at Wrigley Field. (Brian Cassella\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

The pitching staff has been in the middle of the pack league-wide since the All-Star break, though the long ball keeps hurting them<\/a>. Cubs starting pitchers have combined to allow the second-most home runs in the majors over the last six weeks. Left-hander Shota Imanaga, in particular, has been doomed by home runs even for a fly-ball pitcher.<\/p>\n

The Cubs\u2019 frequency in surrendering home runs has cost them games this year and could continue to be costly in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

Photos: Milwaukee Brewers 9, Chicago Cubs 4<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve hit a ton of homers recently, we\u2019ve given up a lot of homers \u2014 obviously that\u2019s something we have to work on is giving up fewer homers,\u201d Hoyer said. \u201cThis ballpark has played in a way recently that the ball is flying here, so some of it is unavoidable. But the home run ball has been a challenge for us, and it\u2019s something that not only this year but going forward we have to really think through because when the ball is in play we have the best chance of any team to catch it, but we can\u2019t do much if the balls are going in the seats.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are potential pitching reinforcements on the horizon.<\/p>\n

Left-hander Justin Steele<\/a> begins his rehab at Triple-A Iowa on Wednesday, but the Cubs remain cautious about his chances of helping the pitching staff. Hoyer said he\u2019s excited for Steele to get back into competition for the first time since early April 2025, before his elbow injury and subsequent surgery, which was then followed by a setback more than four months ago when he sustained a flexor strain.<\/p>\n

Hoyer is \u201cvery open-minded\u201d to letting the rehab process play out for Steele, noting, \u201cI don\u2019t know how this is going to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll see,\u201d Hoyer said of Steele being able to help the team. \u201cWe\u2019re not in development mode at this point. If he can come back and he can help us, he\u2019s going to come back and he\u2019s going to help us. If there\u2019s rust and he needs more time, it\u2019s not the time to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ShotaShota Imanaga of the Chicago Cubs reacts after allowing a home run to Tyler Stephenson of the Cincinnati Reds during the fifth inning at Wrigley Field on Aug. 30, 2026, in Chicago. (Photo by Michael Reaves\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Right-hander Edward Cabrera (blister) started his rehab Tuesday night and is preparing to be used in shorter stints the rest of the way. He possesses the type of velocity that could be an asset for a bullpen that doesn\u2019t feature much, though Cabrera will need to show he can command his stuff and limit walks.<\/p>\n

\u201cCertainly he\u2019s got great stuff and obviously it\u2019s not been consistent this year,\u201d Hoyer said. \u201cHe\u2019s obviously had these blister problems and hopefully the bullpen can help that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Veteran right-hander Shelby Miller is a potential wild card. The Cubs don\u2019t want to rush his rehab process as he returns from his second Tommy John surgery. He also needs to show at Triple A that he\u2019s capable of pitching on back-to-back days without issues. It\u2019s too soon to definitively pencil in Miller for a bullpen role over the final weeks of the season, but he\u2019s trending in the right direction.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a really good bullpen throughout the year, I think we\u2019ve had a lot of good performances,\u201d Hoyer said. \u201cYou wouldn\u2019t have asked me that question a week ago, so I just think that is the nature of bullpens. \u2026 Recency would say they need to step up and perform the way they did the rest of the year. But, like I said, I don\u2019t think you would ask me that seven games ago.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Twenty-four games could define the Chicago Cubs\u2019 season. As they entered Tuesday night\u2019s matchup against the Milwaukee Brewers,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":794741,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2399],"tags":[5,138,24,4245,1712,576,161,62127,29966,888,4914,884,393,2000,4,256,849,770],"class_list":["post-794740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago-cubs","tag-baseball","tag-chicago","tag-chicago-cubs","tag-chicagocubs","tag-clay-holmes","tag-craig-counsell","tag-cubs","tag-cubs-bullpen","tag-cubs-rotation","tag-daniel-palencia","tag-edward-cabrera","tag-jed-hoyer","tag-justin-steele","tag-matthew-boyd","tag-mlb","tag-mlb-baseball","tag-shelby-miller","tag-shota-imanaga"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/117201068913303653","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=794740"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794740\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/794741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=794740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=794740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=794740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}