Can the Cubs’ pitching staff be more consistent in September?

Twenty-four games could define the Cubs’ season.

As they entered Tuesday night’s matchup against the Milwaukee Brewers, those are the remaining regular-season games that stand between the Cubs and what they hope is a deep postseason run.

How they finish will likely come down to the Cubs’ pitching staff. The Cubs feature the best offense and best defense in baseball. The offensive group leads MLB in wRC+ (117), runs (742), walk rate (10.7%) and home runs (196). Their stellar defense puts them at a different level, as their 102 Defensive Runs Saved easily exceed the next-closest team, the Blue Jays (70) — no other big-league team has more than 50 DRS.

President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer described the Cubs’ position player group as “the backbone of our team.”

“The reason we were aggressive with the trade deadline was to try to add consistency to the pitching staff,” Hoyer said Tuesday. “We’ve had so many injuries throughout the course of the year. In a lot of ways, the bullpen has pitched really well for long stretches. Obviously, that last road trip was not the case, and we blew some leads and blew some games that we haven’t lost those kinds of games, but there’s no question of what our strength is. We do need to get consistent starting pitching, throw strikes consistently, and hopefully let the position players do the work.”

The Cubs’ additions of right-handers Clay Holmes and Kevin Gausman have played out exactly as Hoyer and the front office envisioned. The duo has helped stabilize the rotation, particularly Holmes, who has allowed just one run in his last four starts.

The pitching staff has been in the middle of the pack league-wide since the All-Star break, though the long ball keeps hurting them. Cubs starting pitchers have combined to allow the second-most home runs in the majors over the last six weeks. Left-hander Shota Imanaga, in particular, has been doomed by home runs even for a fly-ball pitcher.

The Cubs’ frequency in surrendering home runs has cost them games this year and could continue to be costly in the playoffs.

“We’ve hit a ton of homers recently, we’ve given up a lot of homers — obviously that’s something we have to work on is giving up fewer homers,” Hoyer said. “This ballpark has played in a way recently that the ball is flying here, so some of it is unavoidable. But the home run ball has been a challenge for us, and it’s something that not only this year but going forward we have to really think through because when the ball is in play we have the best chance of any team to catch it, but we can’t do much if the balls are going in the seats.”

There are potential pitching reinforcements on the horizon.

Left-hander Justin Steele begins his rehab at Triple-A Iowa on Wednesday, but the Cubs remain cautious about his chances of helping the pitching staff. Hoyer said he’s excited for Steele to get back into competition for the first time since early April 2025, before his elbow injury and subsequent surgery, which was then followed by a setback more than four months ago when he sustained a flexor strain.

Hoyer is “very open-minded” to letting the rehab process play out for Steele, noting, “I don’t know how this is going to go.”

“We’ll see,” Hoyer said of Steele being able to help the team. “We’re not in development mode at this point. If he can come back and he can help us, he’s going to come back and he’s going to help us. If there’s rust and he needs more time, it’s not the time to do that.”

Right-hander Edward Cabrera (blister) started his rehab Tuesday night and is preparing to be used in shorter stints the rest of the way. He possesses the type of velocity that could be an asset for a bullpen that doesn’t feature much, though Cabrera will need to show he can command his stuff and limit walks.

“Certainly he’s got great stuff and obviously it’s not been consistent this year,” Hoyer said. “He’s obviously had these blister problems and hopefully the bullpen can help that.”

Veteran right-hander Shelby Miller is a potential wild card. The Cubs don’t want to rush his rehab process as he returns from his second Tommy John surgery. He also needs to show at Triple A that he’s capable of pitching on back-to-back days without issues. It’s too soon to definitively pencil in Miller for a bullpen role over the final weeks of the season, but he’s trending in the right direction.

“It’s been a really good bullpen throughout the year, I think we’ve had a lot of good performances,” Hoyer said. “You wouldn’t have asked me that question a week ago, so I just think that is the nature of bullpens. … Recency would say they need to step up and perform the way they did the rest of the year. But, like I said, I don’t think you would ask me that seven games ago.”