CHICAGO — Within 72 hours of getting traded to the Chicago Cubs, David Peterson had already beaten the Milwaukee Brewers, the rival club his new team is chasing in the National League Central. Getting that kind of immediate impact — five-plus weeks ahead of the trade deadline — is exceedingly rare.If Peterson had performed like the All-Star he was last year, or the playoff starter he was in 2024, perhaps the disappointing New York Mets wouldn’t have been so eager to trade the soon-to-be free agent. And if the Cubs weren’t so desperate for pitching, perhaps their front office would have waited until closer to the Aug. 3 deadline.This was a perfect storm. Even with the Cubs trying to navigate all these pitching injuries — and Peterson’s ERA rising to 6.09 in New York — Chicago president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer indicated that it took six weeks of negotiations to finalize the deal.Why the Cubs can’t escape the BrewersKen RosenthalThat’s part of why Cubs manager Craig Counsell is so focused on internal solutions. When asked if Hoyer and Cubs general manager Carter Hawkins are getting close to another deal, Counsell didn’t hesitate.“No, I don’t think they are,” Counsell said Monday at Wrigley Field.Outside of a few obvious sellers, most clubs are at least within striking distance of a wild-card spot. The American League is so muddled that one good week could launch a last-place team back into the playoff race. Preparations are also ramping up for the MLB Draft (July 11-12), taking at least some attention away from the trade market.Taking advantage of optimal hitting conditions, as the Cubs did in Tuesday’s 9-7 win over the San Diego Padres amid the 92-degree Chicago heat, is another way to support the pitching staff.Still, the Peterson deal can be viewed as a template. The Cubs traded a Class-A first baseman, Cole Mathis, from a farm system heavily tilted toward hitting prospects. Beyond a change of scenery after 10 years in the same organization, the Cubs can also provide Peterson with a markedly better defense.As a 6-foot-6 lefty who can follow a game plan, Peterson has several of the attributes that the Cubs typically look for. He has a first-round pedigree and a career groundball rate above 50 percent. He also served as a union representative for the Mets and experienced both success and failure in a big market.“You’re going to go through waves,” Peterson said. “You’re trying to get better every single day, and continue to hammer the good feels and mechanics, and continue to do your homework and scouting on the guys you’re going to face. My goal is to be prepared every five days when I take the ball and give us a chance to win.”Staff weathering the stormThe Cubs are more than halfway through the season and playing around a 90-win pace, yet their clubhouse often looks like a scene out of spring training, with new names, unfamiliar faces, and players coming and going.The Cubs have as many pitchers on the injured list (13) as on their active roster (13). The rotation has already featured 12 pitchers, including openers, while 10 pitchers have notched at least one save. The collective effort has produced 10 walk-off wins so far, the most in the majors.“We’ve become a little more resilient,” said Cubs pitcher Jameson Taillon, who’s sidelined with a strained left hamstring. “Nothing’s surprising us. At first, when guys go down, people are talking about it, huddled up. After a while, it’s literally next man up. It’s obviously helpful that we’ve been winning more lately, and that makes the next-man-up mentality a little more exciting.”Taillon, who threw live batting practice before Tuesday’s game, expects to make a rehab start at a minor-league affiliate this weekend. If that goes well, he could be activated during the final series before the All-Star break.“It’s been crazy,” Taillon said. “I don’t know if I’ve ever seen it before. But everyone’s working really hard to come back and be a part of this.”Lottery tickets in the minorsAt the peaks of their respective careers, Liam Hendriks, Aaron Bummer and Drew Pomeranz might have formed an awesome late-game bullpen. For now, though, the Cubs will be monitoring their progress at Triple-A Iowa.Of those three relievers, Pomeranz, 37, is the most likely to be called up. The lefty was released by the Los Angeles Angels last month before they fired general manager Perry Minasian amid yet another losing season.The Cubs know what it looks like when things are working for Pomeranz, who was acquired in a similar buy-low move last year and wound up pitching in the playoffs at Wrigley Field.Hendriks, 37, signed a minor-league deal in May after requesting his release from the Minnesota Twins when he found out he hadn’t made their Opening Day roster. He’s a three-time All-Star and a two-time winner of the Mariano Rivera Award, which recognizes the AL’s best reliever. But at this point, he represents more of a lottery ticket.Why the AL Wild Card is up for grabsKen Rosenthal and Johnny SweetBummer, 32, was released by the Atlanta Braves in May, but presents a different left-handed look and carries the experience from a 10-year major-league career. Both Bummer and Hendriks spent extensive time at the club’s Arizona training complex, trying to sharpen their mechanics and boost their velocity.“A lot of this was born out of that big injury crunch in mid-April,” Counsell said. “We’re trying to work on some things and develop some things and get them ready to go. You kind of see what happens. You try to have options where something good can happen.“There’s the young, unproven player that you take that’s got the really good arm that maybe you can change something and make them a big-league pitcher. And then there’s the guy that had a lot of success, and through injuries or struggles, needs to change some things and adjust some things. That would be the category for these guys.”News and notes• Daniel Palencia has been ruled out until sometime after the All-Star break. The Cubs closer has only begun throwing plyo balls as he recovers from right elbow inflammation.• Shelby Miller, a talented reliever who signed a two-year deal while recovering from Tommy John surgery, has been pushing through his rehab program in the hopes of joining the bullpen at some point later this season.• Jaxon Wiggins, the organization’s top pitching prospect, is scheduled to make one more rehab appearance at Class-A South Bend before rejoining Iowa. Wiggins will not be involved as the Cubs map out their pitching plans through the All-Star break, but he could become a factor in the second half. As long as he’s healthy, his name will likely be mentioned often in trade talks as the Cubs try to acquire more established major-league pitching.