BRYANT MIGHT WIND UP BACK ON DL
Lester back to himself as front office works to add another arm
The Cubs lost out on trade targets Brad Hand to the Indians last week, Zach Britton to the Yankees on Tuesday and Nathan Eovaldi to the Red Sox early Wednesday.
As the day wore on Wednesday, they were playing chess with the names in their thin farm system to try to stay in the hunt for Blue Jays starter J.A. Happ, one of many teams in the mix for the rent-a-lefty, multiple sources confirmed.
But even if the Yankees or Brewers snatch Happ out from under the Cubs, the North Siders still have left-hander Jon Lester. And on this day at Wrigley Field, he showed why he might yet be the key to the Cubs hanging on to win a third consecutive National League Central title, regardless of whether they add another significant arm by the nonwaiver trade deadline Tuesday.
‘‘He was the reason why we won,’’ center fielder Albert Almora Jr. said after doubling twice and scoring in the Cubs’ 2-1 victory against the Diamondbacks.
Five days after his worst start of the season, Lester dazzled for six scoreless innings before allowing the tying run on a breezeaided home run to left by A.J. Pollock leading off the seventh.
‘‘I was trying to save the bullpen as best as we could,’’ said Lester, who didn’t get the chance for more when manager Joe Maddon went to his bullpen after the homer.
Lester didn’t earn the victory, but his seven-strikeout, no-walk performance was especially encouraging after he was roughed up in an 18-5 loss Friday to the Cardinals. The Cubs desperately need him to perform down the stretch close to the way he has so far (12-3, 3.06 ERA).
The rest of the rotation has underachieved all season. Big-money right-hander Yu Darvish hasn’t pitched since May and struggled when he did. He threw off a mound Tuesday for the first time since his latest setback with his elbow and reported feeling well enough Wednesday that he has been scheduled for another bullpen session Friday in St. Louis.
‘‘Getting a healthy Yu back and pitching like he’s capable — wow, what an acquisition that would be right now,’’ Maddon said heading into the All-Star break.
That’s still nowhere close to happening. In fact, left-hander Drew Smyly, who was coming off Tommy John surgery when the Cubs signed him in December, might be back before Darvish at this point.
Smyly is scheduled Thursday to throw what might be a final bullpen session before starting a minor-league rehab assignment, during which he’ll be stretched out and evaluated for possible starts in the final weeks of the season.
Meanwhile, the Cubs continued to lean on their bullpen, getting three powerful innings from Carl Edwards Jr. and Pedro Strop in relief of Lester.
The importance of the pitching becomes even greater when you throw in the fact that third baseman Kris Bryant’s ailing left shoulder has him sidelined again and that second baseman Javy Baez is gimpy after suffering a bad thigh bruise on a collision at second Tuesday.
Baez came off the bench in the eighth to leg out an infield hit and take second on the ensuing throwing error. It led to the eventual winning run, but not before pitcher Tyler Chatwood took over as a pinch runner.
So the front office works the trade front, looking to add to the acquisition of righthander Jesse Chavez last week.
‘‘It seems like the bigger names have been swept off the table a little bit already,’’ Maddon said. ‘‘The names that are talked about the most are nice arms, but sometimes there’s others, and they’re useful, too.’’
Maddon said he’s not sure how he would work a new starter into his rotation, with Kyle Hendricks, Chatwood and Jose Quintana all healthy as they try to finish stronger than they started.
‘‘I’m not opposed to six [starters] this time of the year,’’ he said. ‘‘The quality of the guy coming in would matter, also.’’