Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Cubs fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.
As you know, the Cubs have had multiple starting pitcher injuries, including the loss of Cade Horton for the season.
Colin Rea and Javier Assad have stepped up admirably, at least in their first starts of the year, filling in for Horton and Matthew Boyd. And we now know that Boyd will likely
head out for a rehab start next week, so hopefully he’ll be back soon.
Earlier this week in the SB Nation Reacts survey, I asked you who the Cubs should call on as a replacement starter if anyone else goes down (and let’s hope the answer to “anyone else” is “no one”!). Here’s who you chose:
Jaxon Wiggins appeared to be on a similar path to the one Horton was on last year. Horton was called up in mid-May and had a spectacular rookie season.
But here’s the thing about Wiggins, that we learned since that survey question: He was scratched from a start. And:
So… that’s not good. Fortunately, as noted, Rea and Assad have stepped up and Boyd will hopefully be back soon. So the Cubs’ starting pitcher depth has been tested and, so far, has held up well.
The national questions asked in the survey this week were about who will win each of the six MLB divisions. Here are the results to those six questions:
There’s a bit of recency bias in some of these results, I think. While it’s true that the Brewers have won the NL Central the last four years, many had picked the Cubs to win the division before the season started. It’s not surprising that the Brewers would come out on top of a survey like this, but the percentage of their vote surprises me a bit. Same for the Yankees over the Blue Jays in the AL East.
That’s why they play the games! I still think the Cubs will win the NL Central. As always, we await developments.
This edition of SB Nation Reacts is sponsored by FanDuel.
