Some small moves could make a big difference.
The good news is that the Cubs currently have the second-best record in the National League. The bad news is that puts them in second in their own division and in the first Wild Card spot. The Brewers have gone 14-4 this month, including an 11-game winning streak, and while the Cubs’ 11-7 mark in July is good for a .611 win percentage, it’s also got them looking up at the Brewers in the division standings.
Baseball’s gonna baseball.
However, with one week to go before the trade deadline, now is a particularly good time to look for ways to upgrade the Cubs roster heading down the stretch. A lot has been written about starting pitching and rightfully so. However, today I want to look at a different way to improve the Cubs: the bench.
The Cubs bench has been remarkably stable this year with only minor fluctuations as injuries have necessitated them. It has also been largely unremarkable from a production standpoint and that needs to change. Below you can see all of the players who have mostly been in a bench role for the Cubs this season, I’ve left backup catchers in the table, although I think that’s a spot that’s largely insulated from the production concern I highlighted above:
A look at Cubs hitters with fewer than 300 plate appearances in 2025 shows a pretty big area for the team to improve at the trade deadline: non-catching bench spots. While it’s not uncommon for a team to have a defensive or running specialist on their bench, the Cubs bench in 2025 has just been a slew of substantially below average at bats.
That liability has been more visible as players have gotten injured or needed time off. Considering the grind of a baseball season, that’s a weakness that’s likely to be exploited more often as the season goes on and MLB regulars need a day off to be at their peak down the stretch.
In glancing at MLB Trade Rumors’ top 40 most likely trade candidates, there are a handful of names on expiring deals who should not cost a lot in trade capital, but could certainly provide the Cubs a better bat on the bench than some of their current options. Even a small move to reunite with a Mike Tauchman, for example, could give the Cubs a much better DH/OF option when Ian Happ, Kyle Tucker, Seiya Suzuki or Pete Crow-Armstrong need a day of rest. While there might be intangibles associated with Justin Turner that necessitate keep him on the Cubs roster, surely we’ve seen enough of Vidal Bruján’s .191 wOBA despite his speed and positional flexibility.