New York Yankees at Chicago Cubs

CHICAGO – At the mention of the Cubs’ trip to New York to play the Mets in late June – when the team added starters Ben Brown and Edward Cabrera to the already-lengthy list of injured pitchers – second baseman Nico Hoerner’s eyes widened and he gave a quick shake of the head Saturday night. “That was a wild, wild stretch for us,” Hoerner said. It was a stretch that led the scrambling Cubs on a search for immediate help, but that point in the calendar is not exactly ripe for big-ticket trades. Chicago’s front office found an available arm and potential bounceback candidate right there in Queens, pulling off a trade to bring lefty David Peterson into the fold. Peterson took the mound Saturday night against the Yankees and was solid once again, pitching into the seventh inning to help the Cubs pull off a 5-2 win at Wrigley Field. As the Cubs continue to look for rotation help ahead of Monday’s 5 p.m. CT Trade Deadline, Peterson offers at least one template for what Chicago’s pitching group can accomplish. “Our guys did a really good job,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “Hopefully David’s confident and believes in what he’s doing right now. And I think he’s performing like he does.” Cubs fans would have loved to see ace lefty Tarik Skubal dealt by Detroit to the North Side, but MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reported late Saturday that the Dodgers reeled in the two-time Cy Young Award winner in a blockbuster deal. So, Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer is left looking at other options, and there are plenty of intriguing pieces out there. The Angels have a pair of starters of interest to the Cubs in Reid Detmers and José Soriano. Kevin Gausman of the Blue Jays is another option, along with Casey Mize of the Tigers. The list goes on, including two arms with the Mets who fit the Cubs’ rotation needs in Clay Holmes and Freddy Peralta. The Mets scratched Peralta from his scheduled start Friday, and interim manager Andy Green told reporters it was “the prudent path” with the Deadline looming. Peralta has a 4.99 ERA on the year and a 7.34 ERA in his last nine turns, but his long history with Counsell during their years with the Brewers should be noted. And if the Cubs’ pitching team can do wonders with a comeback candidate like Peterson, then a pitcher like Peralta – a top-of-the-rotation talent who was fifth in National League Cy Young voting just last year – certainly has the ingredients for a similar bounceback under the right circumstances.