BY Eric Katz
Heading into the regular season, the Chicago Cubs’ starting rotation was surrounded by
question marks. So far, Cubs fans’ worst fears have been realized. Cade Horton was lost after
just two starts to Tommy John surgery, while Shota Imanaga is enduring the worst year of his
career. Jameson Taillon has surrendered a league-high 20 home runs, Matthew Boyd has been
on the injured list since early May, and trade acquisition Edward Cabrera recently came off the
injured list and has experienced a decline in velocity and strikeout rate. Meanwhile, Colin Rea
has had to start more games than expected and has struggled with consistency. Given all the
injuries and how unreliable Chicago’s starting rotation has been, October baseball won’t be
seen on the North Side.
During the offseason, the Cubs declined Shota Imanaga’s three-year club option, allowing him
to become a free agent. The 32-year-old had an uneven year in 2025. He had a 4.70 ERA after
the All-Star break and allowed a career-high 31 home runs. However, Imanaga accepted
Chicago’s $22 million qualifying offer to return for the 2026 season. While other starters like
Jameson Taillon, Colin Rea, Matthew Boyd, and Rookie of the Year runner-up Cade Horton were
all returning, this rotation still needed help.
Despite free agent starters like Dylan Cease, Michael King, and Framber Valdez being available,
Chicago didn’t pursue any of them. Instead, they traded prospect Owen Caissie, Christian
Hernandez, and Edgardo De Leon to the Miami Marlins for starter Edward Cabrera. Despite
Cabrera’s upside, many people questioned whether he was worth the risk, given his lengthy
injury history and longstanding command issues. The Cubs were seemingly banking on Imanaga
returning to his 2024 form, Horton continuing to grow, Cabrera staying healthy and consistent,
and veterans Boyd, Rea, and Taillon duplicating their strong 2025 campaigns, and Justin Steele
making a successful return from injury.
However, so far this season, the Cubs’ starting rotation plans have backfired badly on the
organization. The North Siders had their fans fooled when they had winning streaks of ten and
eight games in both April and May, respectively. After just two starts, Cade Horton was lost for
the season due to Tommy John surgery. In late April, Justin Steele suffered a flexor strain injury
during his rehabilitation, further setting him back. Shota Imanaga has given up five earned runs
or more in four straight starts and has seen his ERA balloon to 4.74. His 17 home runs given up
are the second most in baseball. In five starts, Matthew Boyd put up an ERA of 6.00, suffered a
knee injury while playing with his son, and has been on the injured list since May. Meanwhile,
Jameson Taillon has allowed a league-high 20 home runs.
The Cubs’ biggest concern has been with Edward Cabrera. So far this season, he’s 3-2 with a
4.99 ERA. He’s experienced a drop in his velocity from 97 mph to 95.7 mph. His strikeout rate
has also declined from 25.8% to 20.7%. He recently came off the injured list due to a blister and
had to miss two starts. In his return start, Cabrera only lasted just 3.2 innings, giving up eight
runs, including three homers, in an 18-3 blowout loss to the Giants. This wasn’t the starting
pitcher the organization thought it was getting.
All the injuries have even forced the team to use Colin Rea, Jordan Wicks, and Javier Assad in
much bigger roles than expected. In 15 starts combined, all three have gone 8-6 with a 5.81
ERA. In just two starts, Wicks has shown he’s a liability on the mound. Assad only lasted three
starts before being sent down and Rea has been inconsistent.
Currently, the team is five games behind the Milwaukee Brewers for the top spot in the NL
Central. While Chicago is just one game out of a Wild Card spot, Cubs fans shouldn’t be gullible
enough to believe the team can get it because their rotation is too erratic. A team isn’t going to
have much success without a strong starting rotation and the Chicago Cubs don’t have one. In
what has been a theme for them in recent years, the North Siders have failed to live up to the
offseason hype.
