The 2025 trade deadline was a disappointing affair for fans of the Chicago Cubs, who were expecting an addition to the team’s starting rotation.
The only “starter” that the team traded for was Mike Soroka, a right-handed pitcher from the Washington Nationals. Soroka is a complicated case. On one hand, he owns a fairly ugly 4.87 ERA in 16 starts this year. On the other hand, his expected ERA is a much more favorable 3.32, and he’s striking out batters at a solid 25.4 percent clip while limiting walks to just 7.0 percent.
In a silo, the Soroka trade was not horrible since it initially looked like he would be the first of multiple starting pitching additions to the Cubs. But those other additions didn’t happen, and now he represents the only rotation reinforcement for the final two months aside from Jameson Taillon, who is expected back from the injured list sometime in August.
Soroka would have made a fine multi-inning reliever, and maybe even a great weapon out of the bullpen. But the Cubs have already made their intentions known that Soroka will start some ballgames for them, as he will likely take the mound on Monday against the Cincinnati Reds. The fact that President of Baseball Operations Jed Hoyer couldn’t muster any other trade to help his pitching staff is nothing short of failing to put yourself in the best position to win this year, because Soroka likely won’t be starting any games in October.
Mike Soroka can’t start a playoff game – under any circumstance
The Cubs needed a guy who could take the ball in Game 2 or 3 of a playoff series, along with Matthew Boyd and Shota Imanaga. But Soroka isn’t that guy. Although he’s been used as a starter this year, the former first-round pick has struggled to make it deep into ballgames. Through innings 1-3 (48 total innings this year), the 27-year-old has a solid 3.00 ERA and .201 batting average against.
But things fall off a cliff after the fourth inning for Soroka, who has a 7.56 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP after the third inning this year. This is why he would have made a nice addition to the bullpen as a multi-inning guy with high strikeout numbers. He can still be that guy, but the fact that he is starting any games for the Cubs just adds to the failure that was this year’s deadline.
The only hope is that the Cubs’ pitching lab can find a solution to Soroka’s longevity problem. But Soroka hasn’t pitched a full season since 2019, and he’s struggled with injuries for the last five years. Hopefully he stays healthy and contributes to a playoff run, but it’s hard to get excited about him starting for the Cubs until he settles those anxieties with consistent performance.
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