Cubs Should Be All Over This Reliever At The Trade Deadline

The Chicago Cubs are expected to be buyers at this year’s trade deadline. 

The Cubs are in a good spot right now in the National League standings. They sit alone in the top Wild Card spot and are 4 ½ games up from the third-place Cardinals. Chicago is also within striking distance in the NL Central standings, as the team is six games behind the Brewers. 

If the Cubs want to make a deep postseason run, they must do all they can to acquire pitching by the August 3rd trade deadline. That is obviously their biggest need at this point in the season. 

Every MLB insider expects the Cubs to be in on all of the top available starting pitchers. Some potential starters who could be available for trade are Freddy Peralta, Robbie Ray, and Reid Detmers. 

But as much talk as there has been surrounding the Cubs’ pursuit of starting pitching at this year's trade deadline, the team needs bullpen help just as much. 

The North Siders have used a league-leading 33 different pitchers this year. They have had to lean on unexpected relievers like Drew Pomeranz, Ryan Rolison, Trent Thornton, Tyler Ferguson, and Gavin Hollowell recently. 

While some of those relievers have stepped up big-time for the bullpen, the front office needs to go get multiple high-leverage relievers at the trade deadline. The Cubs simply can’t rely on all of these pitchers down the stretch. 

Chicago has the ninth-highest bullpen ERA (5.12) since June 8. This group also has a 5.54 FIP, a -1.3 WAR, has blown the second-most saves (nine), and given up the third-most homers (27) during this stretch. 

Luckily for the Cubs, there’s one high-leverage bullpen arm in particular that the front office could go after at the deadline. It’s New York Mets reliever Luke Weaver. 

Weaver is expected to be one of the most coveted bullpen arms at this year’s trade deadline. He has an impressive 2.03 ERA, 0.825 WHIP, and a 27.9% strikeout rate across 40 innings pitched this season. 

His underlying metrics also really stand out. Weaver currently ranks in the 91st percentile in expected ERA (2.86), 90th percentile in expected batting average against (.199), 85th percentile in chase rate (34.2%), 87th percentile in whiff rate (30.9%), 83rd percentile in strikeout rate, 72nd percentile in walk rate (7.1%), and 82nd percentile in hard-hit rate (33.3%). 

The Mets right-hander has simply been lights out on the mound this season. Both his Fastball Run Value and Offspeed Run Value rank in the top 15% of the league, and Weaver has allowed just one earned run since May 1. 

Weaver should absolutely be at the top of the Cubs’ wish list at the August 3rd trade deadline. He would solve a pretty big need, and Chicago would have him for multiple years. The 32-year-old wouldn’t be a free agent until after the 2027 season. 

The Cubs should be doing all they can to acquire one of the most dominant relievers in the game.