Chicago Cubs pitching health watch: Some good news, some horrible news

Chicago Cubs pitching has been beaten up in every conceivable way this season—and the bad times don’t seem to be letting up anytime soon.

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There’ve been just so many injuries that it almost boggles the imagination. It’s at the point where, if someone wrote a script about the bad luck Cubbies and faithfully chronicled the actual misfortune this season, movie execs would reject it as too unbelievable.

Cubs pitching dramas

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Of the projected five-man starting rotation at the start of the season: Cade Horton is out for the year, Edward Cabrera and Jameson Taillon will be out for an extended period of time, and Matthew Boyd has just returned from his second stint on the IL. Meanwhile, former ace Justin Steele, who was slated to make his comeback from elbow surgery last season, suffered a setback in rehab and now may not be back at all this year. And in an especially cruel irony, 26-year-old Ben Brown, who had turned the corner in his development and had been delivering as one of the best starters in baseball, has now gone down to an injury that could cost him the rest of the season.

Then, there’s the bullpen, where closer Daniel Palencia and setup men Hunter Harvey and Riley Martin are currently on the shelf. Over the course of the season so far, Phil Maton, Caleb Thielbar, and Ethan Roberts have also spent time on the IL.

Health updates on Brown, Boyd, and Wiggins

With that craziness in mind, here are the latest updates in the Cubs pitching health watch:

In an interview with 104.3 The Score, Cubs manager Craig Carson recently offered an update on Ben Brown’s condition and things didn’t sound good.

“Ben’s diagnosed with a stress reaction in his neck. So, it’s a very similar injury to ‘24. He’s going to get some other opinions on it, but we’re looking at, basically, limited activity for about a month and then go from there.

Back in 2024, Brown was shut down with a neck strain on June 9 and didn’t pitch the rest of the season.

Brown’s loss hits the Cubs especially hard since he was far and away their most effective starter since injuries brought him into the battered and strained rotation. On the year, he was 4-2 with a 1.85 ERA through 20 appearances (8 starts) and 68 innings pitched.

In a bit of corresponding good news, though, last year’s ace Matthew Boyd, on Thursday night, started his first game for the Cubs since May 3. He looked solid, but a bit rusty, in posting 4.2 shutout innings against the New York Mets at Citi Field.

There haven’t been any reports of post-outing soreness or anything out of the ordinary, so that’s a positive. The 35-year-old Boyd had been recovering from meniscus surgery when shoulder fatigue pushed back his return for a couple of weeks. Earlier in the season, he spent time on the IL with a left biceps strain.

In another taste of good news, the Cubs’ top pitching prospect Jaxon Wiggins has completed his rehab assignment and is slated to return to active duty for the Triple-A Iowa Cubs.

The 24-year-old had been sidelined with right elbow inflammation since early April. He’s not expected to be part of the big league Cubs plans this season.

This week, to help fill the void left by the injuries of Brown and also Cabrera, the Cubs traded for Mets pitcher David Peterson as an emergency rotation piece. They also picked castoffs Bryse Wilson and former Cubs Drew Pomeranz.

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