Bats go wild in 7-homer, 20-run onslaught of Reds

CHICAGO -- Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer was still laying the foundation for two possible paths last week. When Tuesday’s Trade Deadline arrived at 5 p.m. CT, he wanted to be prepared to make the decision to either add to his roster or sell off some valuable pieces and focus on the future.

The more the Cubs won, the more other executives started giving Hoyer a hard time.

“Other teams were calling and they were like, ‘You're not selling,’” Hoyer said with a laugh. “I think people stopped taking us seriously as a seller. They were like, ‘Come on, you guys are good. You guys are going to buy.’”

The Cubs did indeed buy. They reeled in arguably the top bat available on the market on Monday in Jeimer Candelario, who chipped in four hits in a 20-9 rout of the Reds on Tuesday at Wrigley Field. The idea was to lengthen Chicago’s lineup and that was on full display, putting it mildly.

Shortstop Dansby Swanson, who was signed to a seven-year contract worth $177 million over the winter as the Cubs aimed to usher in a new era of contending, belted a pair of home runs. Star center fielder Cody Bellinger -- taken off the trade market once the Cubs rattled off win after win in July -- temporarily knocked out part of the video board in right with a towering homer of his own.

The North Siders jumped out to a five-run lead in the first and finished the night with seven homers, trying a modern franchise record (last achieved on May 17, 1977). Mike Tauchman, Nico Hoerner, Patrick Wisdom and Miguel Amaya also got in on the derby, starting August with a bang. It was an overwhelming offensive showing that backed lefty Justin Steele, whose 2.65 ERA ranks third in the Majors.

“It’s a fun group to be a part of,” Cubs manager David Ross said. “We’re not a perfect team, but guys fight really hard and are connected. And I think that goes a long way for taking us over the hump. So, we’re going to have to continue to do that and put up wins.

“And it’s nice that the front office has shown belief and added. I think that’s a huge bonus for kick-starting us, hopefully, for this last two-month run.”

With the win, the Cubs (54-53) pulled within four games of the National League Central-leading Reds. Chicago was 10 games under .500 on June 8 (26-36) and the team’s postseason odds were down to a season-low 6% as recently as July 17, per FanGraphs.

One day later, the Cubs were down 3-0 to the Nationals after two innings. It was in that moment that Hoyer felt selling off some pieces -- Bellinger and starter Marcus Stroman atop the list -- was seemingly the most realistic outcome for his ballclub.

“We ended up scoring 17 that night and didn't look back for a while,” Hoyer said. “That was not very long ago. At that point, it did look like things were probably going in that direction. The biggest focus we had was waiting and letting it play out -- not short-changing the process by making a decision too early.”

Hoyer pointed to two other games that solidified the switch to buying.

On Wednesday, the Cubs were in a 7-2 hole early against the White Sox, but scratched and clawed and pulled off a stunning 10-7 victory on the South Side. Two nights later, Tauchman made one of the best catches in baseball this season, stealing a potential walk-off homer away from Alec Burleson in St. Louis for the final out of a 3-2 win.

“That was like, ‘OK this is a lot of fun,’” Hoyer said. “These guys are celebrating like it’s a playoff game.”

Those wins came within an eight-game winning streak that propelled the Cubs back into the playoff conversation.

“That was probably the turning point,” Hoyer said, “where you realize, this group believes in each other and it’s definitely the right thing to do to keep them together and let them play the last two months."

Hoyer said that decision officially arrived behind the scenes on Sunday.

The past two Deadline selloffs helped restock the Cubs’ farm, creating a situation where the team could deal away two Top 30 prospects (lefty DJ Herz and shortstop Kevin Made) to land Candelario and, at the same time, not deplete the system. Chicago also swung two Minor League deals to acquire bullpen depth in Jose Cuas (via Royals) and Josh Roberson (via Rays).

Hoyer said he was trying to reel in more relief help in the final minutes before the Deadline, but was not close enough to get a deal across the finish line. Candelario was clearly the priority. Down the stretch, he will likely play first and third base, while injecting a switch-hitter into an offense that had already been rolling of late.

“We’ve got a really good team,” Candelario said before his season debut with the Cubs. “We’ve got everything we need to compete with any team and to dominate.”

The North Siders did precisely that on Tuesday night.

“Any time you get a win and put up 20 runs,” Steele said, “that’s a good day at the ballpark. It’s good to be on that side of things. It was a really good day. Awesome to get [Candelario] added to the team.”