The conditions were perfect for a big offensive performance Wednesday at Wrigley Field. The heat, paired with a breeze blowing out, could carry would-be long flyouts over the fence.
“It was a day where you were rewarded for putting the ball in the air,” manager Craig Counsell said after the Cubs’ 8-4 loss to the Royals. “And they did that part of the game certainly better than us.”
Standing in the Cubs’ way was Royals starter Seth Lugo.
It was the kind of pre-trade-deadline matchup that perfectly underlined the push-and-pull of this time of year.
The Cubs’ biggest need, with about a week before the July 31 deadline, is starting pitching. Lugo, who held the Cubs to four hits and two runs in six innings, will be highly sought after by contending teams if the Royals make him available. But their trade-deadline direction is unclear.
As of Wednesday afternoon, nine non-division-leading American League teams were within 4½ games of a wild-card spot, including the Royals (50-53). And while the -National League isn’t quite as tightly packed, it still has bubble teams such as the Cardinals. All that uncertainty of direction has pushed back deadline action.
As soon as one of those gray-area teams loses a few games, its head of baseball operations is sure to hear from organizations looking to pick off its players.
“We’ve all been there,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said Friday. “As an example, in ’23, I was really open with everyone: ‘Don’t feel bad. Yes, this is a little bit day-to-day here. We lose two games in a row, we may be selling, and if we win two games in a row, we might be buying.’ Teams are pretty open about that.”
The Royals inched the opposite way at Wrigley Field this week, taking two of three from the Cubs.
On the other side, the Cubs’ loss, paired with a win by the Brewers (61-41) against the Mariners, knocked the Cubs (60-42) out of a tie for the best record in the majors — and the NL Central.
Pitching opposite Lugo, the Cubs had Colin Rea, who has been a regular starter most of the year because of a wave of injuries.
Between Justin Steele’s season-ending elbow injury, Shota Imanaga’s seven-week stay on the injured list for a strained hamstring and Jameson Taillon’s calf strain at the beginning of the month, the Cubs have been without two top starters simultaneously for essentially all but the first six weeks of the season.
Rea, despite allowing six runs (five earned) in five innings against the Royals, has been key in stabilizing the rotation. But the Cubs have used bullpen days to fill the final spot in their rotation this month, further emphasizing their need for starting pitching at the deadline.
Even after surrendering a trio of two-run homers, Rea’s ERA was at a respectable 4.06.
“It’s tough to blame the pitcher,” Counsell said, noting the error that put a runner on base for the first homer and the role the hitter-friendly conditions might have played in the others.
The Cubs’ offense didn’t flash its power until Lugo was gone. Instead, it took advantage of a leadoff walk in the second inning and a leadoff hit-by-pitch in the third.
“He’s got a very expansive pitch mix, and you never really feel like you can sit on anything,” Counsell said. “He pitched well.”
Against the Royals’ bullpen, Cubs rookie Matt Shaw hit a solo homer to extend his post-All-Star-break hot streak, and Pete Crow-Armstrong launched his 27th homer of the season to retake sole ownership of the team lead.