Coming into todays off day the Cubs are in second place in the NL Central with a 21-16 record just 4 games behind the pesky Cardinals. But there is one glaring issue on their roster, the bench,
The Cubs roster makeup is currently 14 pitchers and 11 position players, yes the bullpen is gassed but that only gives the Cubs room for 3 bench-players, 2 of whom are catchers. The current bench ( David Ross, Welington Castillo, and Jonathan Herrera) is a combined 2-26 with 4 walks and 9 strikeouts. Overall Cubs pinch-hitters are hitting .143/.250/.222 and a tOPS+ of 33, but a BABIP of .190 suggests that luck is having a slight affect on the stats.
The most notable affect is the lack of pinch-runners, if the Cubs go to the ninth in a close game and one of the slower members of the team reaches base there really isn't any options to go to off the bench.
The Cubs should really consider going back to 13 pitchers now that Travis Wood has been moved to the bullpen and him and Edwin Jackson could be considered long-relievers now and Joe Maddon has stated he isn't afraid to use Wood in other situations as well.
For the extra bench player they should recall outfielder Matt Szczur who, despite a .172/.242/.241 split has shown good speed and defense in the outfield.
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