The Pittsburgh Pirates’ approach to Adrian Sampson was simple — and allowed the Chicago Cubs right-hander to be effective.

Aggressive, early swings in the count allowed Sampson to cruise through six innings Sunday, shutting down the Pirates in an 8-3 victory at PNC Park. Sampson allowed one run and four hits on 67 pitches, striking out six with no walks.

Sampson exemplifies the improved depth and internal options the Cubs have been able to utilize this season. He showed a glimpse last year in 10 appearances (five starts), recording a 2.80 ERA in 35⅓ innings. He has remained reliable in a larger role in 2022, posting a 3.23 ERA in 94⅔ innings through 19 appearances (17 starts).

Sampson is one of 14 pitchers to start multiple games for the Cubs in 2022. More important is the quality of the pitchers the Cubs have used to fill in for injuries in the rotation.

Fewer veteran, journeyman pitchers and more internal arms — such as Javier Assad, Caleb Kilian and Hayden Wesneski — to fill in over the last few weeks better positions the Cubs to build their pitching staff in 2023.

Since the All-Star break, the rotation’s 3.15 ERA ranks third in the majors behind the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros.

“Early in the year when we had the depth but they maybe just weren’t ready, it showed how much it affected our team,” pitching coach Tommy Hottovy said Sunday. “We went through some tough stretches where we didn’t have the ability to have consistent starting pitching.

“And now that you have guys that have proven that they can do that, that have had a good run through the minor leagues and they come up and have success, it definitely gives you a lot of confidence as an organization that going into next year you’ve got some viable starting pitching depth, long reliever depth that you know can come up and help through the course of a long season.”

With nine games left, the Cubs won’t rush back any starter who is working through something.

Left-hander Drew Smyly (left shoulder fatigue) initially was looking to pitch when the team returns home to face the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday through Thursday, but he is not slated to start during the series. He threw a bullpen session Sunday, and if it goes well, Smyly could make one more start this season.

Left-hander Wade Miley (left oblique tightness) felt better Sunday, but given the injuries he has battled this year, it would not be a surprise if he’s done for the season.

Left-hander Justin Steele likely will throw another high-intensity bullpen before the Cubs evaluate whether the next step is live batting practice or being activated off the injured list. Ideally Steele would pitch in another big-league game, but ensuring he is fully healthy is the main priority.

“The value of getting in the game would just be checking a box basically,” Hottovy said. “Make sure that he’s progressing and feeling the way the way he wants. We can also do that in a bullpen setting or live BP setting as well. So we’ll just evaluate how the next few days go and then make the decision as a group (on) what’s best for Justin at that time.”

As attention starts to shift to the offseason, the Cubs lack a true No. 1 starter. That should be a top priority in the offseason. The Cubs have a good mix to build around a top starter, led by Marcus Stroman, Steele and Keegan Thompson. Wesneski has shown promise, too, while Adbert Alzolay likely will prepare for a starter’s workload in the offseason and report to camp built up.

“When we start getting into the free-agent information, the digging, the talking through what we want to do, obviously all the things that we’ve done with these guys is going to play a factor into what we try to do,” Hottovy said. “And hopefully (free agents) will see that we’re heading in the direction that we want to go and that they would want to go.”

Alzolay’s best fit could be as a multi-inning reliever, which is enticing to Hottovy and the Cubs. It also plays into building a balanced bullpen by incorporating a mix of controllable, younger arms with veteran relievers.

The Cubs have relied on veteran free agents to fill the back-end, high-leverage spots the last two seasons and then flipped those relievers at the trade deadline. Ultimately they want a blend of experience in the bullpen and a diversified pitch mix to ensure they can give different looks and not become one-dimensional.

A multi-inning reliever for higher-leverage spots would be ideal.

“That’s something I definitely see Adbert being able to fulfill,” Hottovy said. “Once we get to a point where he’s feeling good and fully healthy and gets through this season feeling good.”

The wild card for the 2023 pitching staff is veteran right-hander Kyle Hendricks.

Hottovy said the Cubs can count on Hendricks next season “until he proves (to) us otherwise.” Hendricks, who will be entering his final guaranteed year, has been rehabbing his right shoulder strain at the Cubs complex in Mesa, Ariz., since mid-August. He still is not throwing.

Hendricks’ work right now is focused on strengthening his lower body as he refines his delivery. Hottovy hopes that by the time Hendricks starts throwing, he will be mechanically locked in with his lower half.

“He’s been relatively healthy for a lot of his career, so I’m confident in him getting some rest (and) having a good normal offseason and buildup,” Hottovy said. “So as of right now, we absolutely are believing in Kyle Hendricks to be a huge part of what we’re going to do next year, and obviously we’ll have to see how things develop over the offseason. We’ll be in constant communication with him.”

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