On the other hand, one always expected improvement from the younger players. In this respect, Baez has been an absolute revelation. Play of this caliber from him was unexpected. Russell and Contreras have been really good, as have Almora and Scwarber and Happ. Totally unexpected has been the resurgence of Zobrist and Heyward , who looked ready for the scrapheap in spring training.
So the deal is this team is really good and likely to remain so for quite a while. I can see where they are unwilling to spend any chips from the current roster at the deadline. They will likely try to strengthen the putching staff, either with a spot starter rental or an additional bullpen arm. Most likely the latter. They have been lucky so far to have their relievers hold up and perform creditably. Long run they cannot sustain that level when asked to get 10 or 12 outs a game. Hendricks and Quintana look like they are going to provide longer starts through the second half, but some reinforcements may be needed to carry the team through August.
Look for the Cubs to make some modest move along these lines after the break. They probably don’t have the farm system to get a stopper like Hand, but there are relievers above the journeyman class that can help.
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