The Chicago Cubs were unable to turn to Porter Hodge to close out Monday night’s game against the Miami Marlins due to an oblique injury. Right-handed relief pitcher Daniel Palencia wound up surrendering two runs as the Marlins won the first game of their series 8-7 in front of 9,935 fans at LoanDepot Park.
Hodge is headed to the 15-day injured list for the oblique issue, leaving another hole in the Cubs’ beleaguered pitching staff.
As leaders in the NL Central by 1.5 games over the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago is expected to have interest in trading for help at third base, relief pitching, and a starting pitcher.
The Chicago Cubs plan to trade for pitching help this summer
During an appearance Tuesday on 670 The Score, President Jed Hoyer confirmed the Cubs are in the market for pitching help, but said the team wouldn’t look to execute a trade until at least the end of June. Until then, the Cubs will make smaller transactions until they wait for sellers to appear.
“I think there’s no question that the bullpen is going to be aided by outside help, whether that’s big transactions or small,” Hoyer said, “I think there’s no question we’re going to continue to add guys. Drew Pomeranz is an example.
“You know, we added him from Seattle, just like we did with Tyson Miller a year ago. And you just got to keep churning through relievers. I think, as far as larger transactions, that doesn’t really start probably until mid to late June at the earliest.
“This is the nature of it. And I think when you look around baseball now, there’s a lot of teams that believe they’re in the race, that feel like they have a chance. That’s one area that baseball is a little different right now than it has been in other years, where the sellers are less obvious.”
Health is a factor, too. Hoyer hopes the bullpen can get healthy so the guys on the roster can make an impact.
The Cubs’ bullpen has an ERA of 4.36, which ranks 19th in the MLB.
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