Jed Hoyer Prioritizes Pitching Quality After Cubs Allow NL-High 231 Home Runs

Chicago Cubs President of Baseball Operations Jed Hoyer confirmed on October 2, 2026, that improving pitching “quality” will constitute the “great majority” of the club’s focus during the upcoming offseason. The announcement follows a season where the team’s elite offensive production and defensive metrics were ultimately neutralized by a league-high volume of home runs allowed.

The Cubs finished the 2026 regular season with an 89-73 record, but the campaign ended abruptly in a two-game sweep by the San Diego Padres in the Wild Card Series. While the Padres move on to face the Milwaukee Brewers in the NLDS, the Cubs are left to reconcile a statistical profile that saw them lead the National League in runs scored (850) while simultaneously surrendering 231 home runs—the highest mark in the league.

Hoyer noted that the team’s reliance on its top-rated defense had reached a breaking point. “We’re leaning on our defense too heavily,” Hoyer remarked during his season-ending address, adding that “we can’t catch homers.” This imbalance was starkly evident during the Wild Card Series, where the Cubs were outscored 12-1 across two games.

With four starters hitting free agency, the Cubs' 2027 rotation remains a blank slate.

The urgency for a pitching overhaul is compounded by a looming vacuum in the starting rotation. Nearly the entire 2026 staff is entering unrestricted free agency, including Shota Imanaga, Kevin Gausman, David Peterson, and Aaron Civale. This turnover gives the front office a blank slate to address the lack of “swing-and-miss” stuff that plagued the staff throughout the summer. According to Baseball-Reference.com, the Cubs’ pitching staff struggled to maintain consistency in high-leverage situations, particularly during the final week of the season when the team lost four of its last five regular-season games.

The failure to secure home-field advantage for the Wild Card round forced the Cubs to finish their season on the road, where the pitching staff’s vulnerability to the long ball was magnified. This outcome overshadowed a historic individual performance by outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, who became the first player in Cubs franchise history to record a 40-home run, 40-stolen base season.

Despite the clear need for high-end talent, Hoyer faces a complex financial landscape. With several marquee arms like Corbin Burnes expected to hit the open market, Hoyer must decide if ownership will authorize further record-breaking spending to secure the “quality” he identified as the missing piece for a 2027 title run.

For now, Hoyer’s mandate suggests the Cubs will be aggressive participants in both the trade and free-agent markets to ensure that a repeat of the 2026 pitching collapse does not waste another prime offensive window.

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