What signing a ‘big-time horse’ could do for the Cubs’ rotation

PITTSBURGH — Before the Cubs’ 8-3 victory Sunday against the Pirates, pitching coach Tommy Hottovy called building and improving starting-pitching depth ‘‘crucial.’’

‘‘I know we’ve done some really good things this second half of the year,’’ he said. ‘‘But we struggled early in the year when we didn’t have the consistency and the depth quite as we wanted it. When you have good, consistent starting pitching in this league, you can do a lot of things.’’

Case in point: Adrian Sampson held the Pirates to one run in six innings Sunday, his fourth consecutive quality start. His strong stretch has been one of those second-half positives. But the Cubs also have continued to play short-handed in the starting-pitching department.

With the offseason fast approaching, the Cubs are identifying the holes they’ll need to fill. To vault into contention and close the rebuilding chapter of this cycle, the Cubs not only will need to add depth, but they’ll have to do it by adding to the top of their rotation.

Look at how this season has played out. The injuries to the rotation began even before the lockout ended in March.

Adbert Alzolay, who initially was expected to compete for a rotation spot, was sidelined for most of the season with a strained lat he suffered a few weeks before spring training opened.

Wade Miley was delayed in starting his season because of inflammation in his left elbow. He has made only made eight starts because of a string of injuries.

Marcus Stroman has had two stints on the injured list, one for COVID-19 and another for inflammation in his right shoulder.

Drew Smyly missed six weeks to a strained right oblique and skipped his last start with fatigue in his left shoulder.

Kyle Hendricks suffered a season-ending strain in his right shoulder and has been on the IL since early July.

In the first half of the season, young pitchers Justin Steele and Keegan Thompson took on more responsibility than originally expected, and they thrived in those roles.

‘‘If these guys continue to understand who they are, just keep learning about themselves and learning about pitching,’’ Miley said in a conversation with the Sun-Times a couple of months ago, ‘‘they don’t have a lot of work to do in the starting-pitching department moving forward to win. . . . If you can get a big-time horse, throw them in there behind them all day long.’’

In other words, if the Cubs acquire an ace, that boosts the quality of the rotation throughout. Steele and Thompson would be high-quality options in the middle of the rotation.

Late in the season, as Thompson and Steele have missed time to lower-back injuries in their first full major-league seasons, the spotlight has turned to rookies such as Hayden Wesneski and Javier Assad.

‘‘To expect them to all throw 180 innings next year is probably a little bit lofty of a goal,’’ Hottovy said of the Cubs’ young starting pitchers, also mentioning Thompson, Alzolay and prospect Caleb Kilian. ‘‘So it shows you how important it is to have guys that can come in and eat up innings and be good starting pitchers to build those guys around instead of making them the focal point of one of those main spots.’’

As for the veterans, Smyly has a mutual option for next season. Stroman and Hendricks still will be under contract and have options for 2024. Stroman’s is a player option and Hendricks’ is up to the club.

Hendricks’ health is still a question mark. He’s building up in his strength program in Arizona and hasn’t started throwing yet.

‘‘I’m confident in [Hendricks] getting some rest,’’ Hottovy said. ‘‘I’m confident in him having a good, normal offseason and building up.

‘‘So, as of right now, we absolutely are believing in Kyle Hendricks to be a huge part of what we want to do next year.’’