Tuesday night, the Cubs begin a stretch of 23 consecutive games in 23 days; their next off day is September 13.
That will put stress on the pitching staff in particular, first, because we don’t yet know the status of Mike Montgomery, second, because Tyler Chatwood was ineffective in his last start and whether he gets another one is an open question.
In the middle of that 23-game run, September 1 occurs. That’s good, because on that date, teams can expand their active rosters to include, potentially, everyone on the 40-man roster.