As if things couldn’t have gone worse for the Chicago Cubs this week, the bullpen almost lost its best reliever against the Milwaukee Brewers. Jacob Webb pitched in the ninth inning of Wednesday night’s 9-5 loss, and although he had a few devastating blown saves in August, the right-hander has been by far the team’s most reliable reliever in 2026.
So, it was a very uncomfortable scene in the ninth, when Christian Yelich drilled a 102mph line drive off Webb’s right arm. Webb tried to make a hero play, but instead airmailed a throw down the right-field line that allowed the Brewers to get runners to second and third. Yet, the bigger concern was Webb’s health, as the right-handed pitcher immediately walked off the field with the trainer.
Luckily, it appears as though the Cubs dodged a bullet. X-rays came out negative on Webb’s forearm. Webb is hoping that further treatment in the next few days will be enough to avoid a stint on the 15-day injured list.
The Cubs’ bullpen has been atrocious for the past few weeks and Wednesday’s loss marks yet another example of how the pitching staff has been killing this team since August.
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David Peterson could not get out of the fourth inning, blowing a 5-3 lead after the Cubs’ offense was actually able to get to the Brewers’ ace and Cy Young favorite Jacob Misiorowski. After Peterson surrendered the lead, the Cubs’ bullpen gave up three more runs, including two in the ninth inning, which were both charged to Webb after his early exit.
It was the seventh loss since Aug. 1 by the Cubs after leading by at least two runs at any point in the game.
The Cubs are 7-12 since they cut the division deficit to three games. Since then, the Cubs have ranked 25th in MLB with an overall team ERA of 5.03. They’ve lost six games in the NL Central standings and are now also looking up at the Philadelphia Phillies for the No. 1 seed in the Wild Card.
There are only 22 games remaining in the regular season for the Cubs. The division is over, with the Brewers up nine games heading into Thursday night’s series finale. In the Wild Card picture, the Cubs do have a 4.5-game edge over the Arizona Diamondbacks for the second spot. Right now, the Cubs are one game back of the Phillies, but Chicago does have the tiebreaker over Philadelphia, Arizona, and the San Diego Padres, who are on the outside looking in as of Sept. 3.
The bullpen needs to figure it out soon because the Cubs have shown that no lead is safe this year.
