Cubs searching for power sources

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“We have to be a little quicker-strike offense than we were,” Jed Hoyer said. “We lacked the ability to pull away in different games. And that’s something we have to get better about.”

MESA, Ariz. — Developing homegrown power has its benefits, as the Cubs once enjoyed after Kris Bryant, Javy Baez and Kyle Schwarber blossomed as slugging standouts.

But since the departures of Anthony Rizzo, Bryant, Baez and Schwarber, the Cubs’ power has been zapped to the extent where White Sox free agent Jose Abreu serves as a viable option.

Internal help could arrive, albeit gradually, with 2022 breakout sensation Matt Mervis strengthening his case in the Arizona Fall League while talk of Abreu swells with the free-agency filing period starting immediately after the conclusion of the World Series.