Hoyer has these 3 keys in mind as he makes Cubs' Deadline plans

CHICAGO -- Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson remained in the dirt near second base, grabbing at his face and in clear pain. It was a scary moment on Friday night at Wrigley Field, as the defensive anchor of Chicago’s infield had just taken a ball to the mouth in a play gone awry.

In the third inning of the Cubs’ 5-2 loss to the Twins, a throw from first baseman Michael Busch nicked the extended left hand of Minnesota’s Luke Keaschall as he slid into second. The deflection sent the ball off the tip of Swanson’s glove before it struck him in the face.

Ultimately, Swanson stayed in the game after being checked by manager Craig Counsell and a member of the Cubs’ training staff. Counsell said after the game Swanson was doing fine, other than potentially needing a few stitches.

“It just shows the person he is, the toughness that he has,” Cubs starter Colin Rea said. “No matter what happens, he’s not coming out of a game. He’s staying in there. That’s respect to him, and he gets a lot from our teammates, as well.”

It was a reminder of how fortunate the North Siders have been to date when it comes to their core of veteran position players -- a group that has helped carry the team through a long list of injuries and issues on the pitching front.

Prior to Friday’s game, Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer met with reporters and the Aug. 3 Trade Deadline dominated the discussion. Hoyer continued to emphasize that patience is needed as the landscape settles and the Cubs’ pursue pitching help.

Here are three things Hoyer is keeping an eye on as the Deadline looms:

1. Starting pitching help
Over the past two years, veteran righty Rea has led the Cubs in innings pitched with 260 frames logged. That includes the six innings he gave the North Siders on Friday night as the first starter to take the ball after the All-Star break.

What Rea has done has been admirable and has absolutely saved Chicago’s staff. The fact that he tops the workload list also shows how many injuries have hit the rotation. In both 2025 and this year, Rea began in the bullpen, only to have injuries pull him into a starting role.

Against the Twins, Rea was charged with four runs (three earned), which all came in the top of the third inning. Following the fielder’s choice grounder that nearly took Swanson out of the game, Rea allowed three straight hits, including a three-run homer to Ryan Jeffers that had a 93.8 mph exit velocity and a .150 expected average, per Statcast.

“Colin pitched well,” Counsell said. “I thought he pitched very well. They got a big hit at the right time. We did not.”

Righty Jameson Taillon is set to return from the injured list in the next series against the Tigers, while righty Edward Cabrera is on pace for a return in mid-August. In the meantime, Hoyer and his front office team will be scouring the trade market to search for potential rotation reinforcements.

“Craig likes out-getters. He also likes not burning through the bullpen all the time,” Hoyer said. “So I think it’s important to be able to give him some stability. Getting 18 or even 21 outs in a game makes the next game a lot easier.”

2. Bullpen depth
The bullpen has seen steady change throughout this season and has lacked a clear stopper at the end with closer Daniel Palencia spending much of this campaign on the injured list.

There have been some unexpected arms who have emerged, but the relief corps remains an area that the Cubs will be looking to shore up at the Deadline. While the Cubs could have some arms coming back from the shelf later in the year (lefty Hoby Milner could be back around Aug. 1, Palencia’s timetable makes mid-August possible and then there are some late-season wild cards like Justin Steele and Ben Brown, among others), Hoyer is not counting on returnees to provide the solution.

“You can’t have enough pitching,” Hoyer said. “This first half has proven that. We thought we went in with real depth and we got to the end of our depth, and I had to trade for guys and pick up guys. So the hope of guys coming back off the injured list, I don’t think it’s going to temper our need.”

3. The playoff-related odds
Hoyer does his best not to make deals from a place of emotion. He and his front office have been consistent in how they have tackled Deadlines in the past, and it should be expected that data will continue to drive a lot of the decision-making.

While the Cubs currently have 76.6% odds of making the playoffs and 14.5% odds of chasing down the Brewers for the division lead (per FanGraphs), Hoyer has pointed to the first-round bye odds as an important indicator of aggressiveness. Currently, Chicago has 8.3% odds of clinching that bye.

“You have to go into the Deadline thinking about it analytically,” Hoyer said. “You have to think about, ‘OK, getting a bye is effectively winning a series and weakening your opponent in the next series.’ That’s a really big deal. If the odds say that you can do that, that’s a different equation than if not. You have to be aware of those things, and we certainly will.”