The results have been good overall, but you can’t always trust the numbers because if you were paying any attention to the Chicago Cubs in recent weeks, then you weren’t surprised when Trent Thornton blew Wednesday night’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals. The right-handed pitcher will most likely stick around for a little longer, but Thornton might not be around once the trade deadline passes.
As much as the Cubs need to add to their starting rotation, the front office also needs to acquire a quality reliever by Monday’s trade deadline. While Thornton isn’t the answer for any high-leverage situations, he’s been put into those spots out of necessity because of the Cubs’ injuries. Going forward, the Cubs simply cannot trust him in any spot.
You love the passion that Thornton shows on the mound, and again the results have been good, a 3.03 ERA in 32.2 innings, but we’re also talking about one of the luckiest relievers in baseball. He only has 15 strikeouts this year, which amounts to an 11.8 K% among all bullpen pitchers who have at least 30 innings pitched in 2026. The right-hander cannot miss bats and opposing batters have a 46% hard-hit rate against him, 10th highest in MLB among relievers.
Thornton’s outing on Wednesday was just the latest in the pitcher getting crushed, but it just so happened to come in the 10th inning when the Cardinals began with a runner at second base. The Cubs reliever gave up two hits and a walk, which ended with a 3-2 loss that wasted Pete Crow-Armstrong’s go-ahead home run.
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That was the fifth consecutive appearance in which Thornton gave up at least one hit, and dating back to June 16, he has a 4.30 ERA in 17 games. He is no longer generating a high ground ball rate, while batters are averaging a 92mph exit velocity against Thornton.
We’ve seen this in the past, where a reliever can get by for a while despite not actually pitching all that well. Any team will obviously take the positive results, but once the pitcher’s numbers regress, it’s time to move on. In 2025, the Cubs brought up veteran Chris Flexen, who had 21.1 scoreless innings from May 2 to June 19. However, like Thornton, Flexen wasn’t striking out guys at a good enough rate, and eventually all the contact led to more hits and runs. In Flexen’s final 22.1 innings with the Cubs, he recorded a 6.04. By the end of July, the Cubs designated him for assignment.
Thornton had an electric debut with the Cubs in 2026, and he’s been in other huge spots and has come through. However, all signs point to his regression and he should be out of the Cubs’ bullpen soon.
