PITTSBURGH — Before the Cubs’ 8-3 victory Sunday against the Pirates, pitching coach Tommy Hottovy called building and improving starting-pitching depth ‘‘crucial.’’
‘‘I know we’ve done some really good things this second half of the year,’’ he said. ‘‘But we struggled early in the year when we didn’t have the consistency and the depth quite as we wanted it. When you have good, consistent starting pitching in this league, you can do a lot of things.’’
