The Chicago Cubs are having an excellent season, but to ensure success, they will need to make a couple of upgrades.

So far this year, the Cubs have exceeded most projections. While the team was expected to be better, they have emerged as one of the best teams in the National League.

Chicago made some notable offseason moves to improve, and the addition of Kyle Tucker has been a gamechanger for the franchise with him being an NL MVP-caliber player to help reshape the lineup.

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Even though he has been great, it has been the overall depth of the unit that has arguably been the most impressive thing so far for the franchise.

From the top of the order to the bottom, there is a lot of talent on this roster that has powered them into being one of the best offenses in baseball.

While the lineup has been great for the Cubs, the pitching staff is the cause for concern.

They fortunately got Shota Imanaga back from the injured list, but Justin Steele is out for the remainder of the season, which has reduced the ceiling of this unit. Therefore, finding a replacement is something that Chicago needs to do.

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There has been plenty of speculation about who the Cubs might pursue before the trade deadline, but one of the most frequently mentioned names has been Miami Marlins starter Sandy Alcantara.

The former NL Cy Young winner is in his first year back after missing time with Tommy John surgery. As seen by others coming back from that surgery, it does take some time to regain form.

Overall, the numbers for Alcantara aren’t good.

Entering Saturday, he had totaled a 4-8 record and a 6.69 ERA. However, prior to his disastrous outing against the Arizona Diamondbacks, he was starting to pitch much better in June, which could be exactly what Chicago was hoping to see.

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Prior to his most recent outing, the Alcantara totaled a 2-1 record with a 2.74 ERA in four starts, a number that has ballooned up to 4.34 after he gave up seven earned runs on 10 hits in six innings pitched.

In a strange way, if the Cubs are interesting in taking a chance on the right-hander, this recent performance could actually help them when it comes to his price potentially dropping.

With the need for an ace to help solidify the rotation, Chicago is a very logical landing spot.

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