NEW YORK – Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse for the Cubs’ banged-up pitching staff, it got worse.
Righty starter Edward Cabrera left Tuesday night’s 9-6 win over the Mets on a cart after suffering a left hamstring/adductor strain while covering first base on a ground out that ended the fifth inning.
The Cubs will learn more about the severity of the injury Wednesday, but manager Craig Counsell said Cabrera will head to the injured list.
It’s more bad news for the Cubs, who already had three members of their Opening Day starting rotation on the IL in lefty Matthew Boyd and right-handers Cade Horton and Jameson Taillon. Though Boyd figures to make his long-awaited return in the coming days, Cabrera will, however briefly, make it four.
Taillon isn’t expected back for weeks, and Horton is done for the season. To make matters worse, team president Jed Hoyer said in a Tuesday radio interview that it’s “unrealistic” to expect lefty Justin Steele, out since early last season, to make starts for the team this year.
“We’re in a rough spot,” Counsell said. “I think we can get through it. It’s to the All-Star break [where things will be most challenging]. It’s going to be a little bit of a puzzle until then.”
Righties Ben Brown and Javier Assad have been something of saviors as rotation fill-ins. Righty Colin Rea hasn’t been nearly as good as he was in substitute duty last season. Should the Cubs need to lean on their depth further, it’s uncertain how many good options they have.
Cubs starters came into Tuesday with a 4.62 ERA that was the seventh highest in baseball.
“We’ve had a lot of injuries, and we’ve had to have guys step up,” Hoyer said last week at Wrigley Field. “Yes, external rotation additions are a possibility, not as much now as they are later. But that part of our team struggling, honestly, is kind of logical given what we’re missing.
“There are some guys that have stepped up, but we’re going to need more of that. Even if the offense starts clicking, we’re going to need more consistency out of that group.”
Cabrera was one of the pitchers who needed to step up, the Cubs still waiting to see the best version of the righty who they brought in last winter, hoping they were bringing a top-of-the-rotation type to the North Side.
It was the kind of trade Hoyer’s front office didn’t make at last year’s trade deadline, when the team president opted to keep his future pieces rather than supplement a banged-up staff. The move in the offseason was part of setting championship-level expectations for this year’s Cubs team.
But through his first 14 starts in a Cubs uniform, Cabrera has a 5.10 ERA, much higher than the 3.53 number he posted last season with the Marlins. Those 2025 results were attractive enough to convince Hoyer & Co. to make Cabrera a pivotal part of the organization’s pitching plans moving forward.
The results so far this season? Rather unattractive.
After a couple ugly outings earlier this month, Cabrera only allowed two runs Tuesday before the injury. But he had some troublesome moments, including a rocky second inning that saw him walk three batters and give up a pair of singles, including a two-run knock, all with two outs.
The results need to be better, but the wonder now is what sort of opportunity Cabrera will have after suffering the injury Tuesday, another bout of bad news for a pitching staff that’s been hammered by injuries.
“We went into the season thinking we had real numbers. The modern game takes care of that real quickly, and it’s really tested our depth,” Hoyer said. “Injuries are part of the game, they’re part of the challenge.
“Some seasons you maybe skate through a little bit, and some seasons you don’t. And we haven’t.”