Well, if you’re still thinking positively about the Chicago Cubs, then the return of Matthew Boyd from knee surgery may ultimately soften the blow, but yet another starting pitcher is headed to the injured list. Jameson Taillon exited Sunday night’s series finale against the San Francisco Giants in the second inning, and fortunately it’s not an arm injury.
Still, the veteran pitcher will miss a couple of weeks as he recovers from a hamstring strain. Cubs’ manager Craig Counsell confirmed the news following Chicago’s 2-1 loss.
Taillon, 34, has been pretty bad in his final year under contract with the Cubs. The right-handed pitcher has already given up 20 home runs in 67.2 innings through 13 starts in 2026. He has a 5.19 ERA in 67.2 innings.
It’s June 8, and the Cubs have already had four starting pitchers go on the injured list.
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Chicago Cubs SP Injury Issues
Cade Horton: Tommy John surgery, out for the year (made 2 starts)
Matthew Boyd: 2 IL stints, biceps strain, knee surgery (24 IP)
Edward Cabrera: Blister, IL stint
Jameson Taillon: Hamstring strain, IL stint
Meanwhile, the depth options have also been hit with injuries, which has created some issues with the pitching staff through the first 66 games of the year.
More Cubs Pitching Injuries
Jordan Wicks: Began the year on IL
Jaxon Wiggins: Made 2 starts and hasn’t pitched since April 4
Brandon Birdsell: Out for the year (recovering from elbow surgery)
Will Sanders: IL stint, on rehab assignment
Kyle Wright: IL all year, suffered a setback in rehab
Justin Steele: Suffered a setback while rehabbing from elbow surgery
At 34-32, the Cubs have been flirting with the .500 mark for the past week after blowing their cushion from a 20-3 stretch. Since then, the Cubs have been one of the worst teams in MLB, going 7-20 as of May 9.
With all the injuries in the rotation, plus the regression of the healthy pitchers, the Cubs have fallen to the bottom three in starting pitching ERA at 4.83, 28th in MLB. The numbers get worse since the beginning of this awful stretch, as the Cubs’ starting rotation has recorded a 6.58 ERA in the last 27 games.
We’ll see how Boyd responds from the injured list. He’ll start later this week after making two rehab starts in the minor leagues. The left-handed pitcher suffered a meniscus tear in a freak accident, playing with his kids at home back in May. He had a rough start to the year, eventually going on the injured list with a biceps strain in April. Boyd did look good in his last start before the knee injury, allowing two runs in six innings, striking out five and walking one in a win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Right now, it’s only Ben Brown who has not just given the Cubs solid appearances, but he’s been the team’s best pitcher since joining the rotation after Boyd was sidelined in May.
The Cubs need one group to step up, and right now they’re just trying to stay healthy in the starting rotation. This might be mean, but it would be great if the Cubs don’t actually have room for Taillon once he recovers from his hamstring injury. Hopefully, that means the rotation has stabilized, but it will take other guys to step up, as Edward Cabrera and Shōta Imanaga have also been disappointing as of late.
