The Cubs are in the midst of their longest winning streak since 2023, but it does feel a bit precarious. While the roster was built for a deep October run, with an excellent lineup and bullpen bolstered by numerous offseason acquisitions, injuries have been a massive issue early. Precisely no one had Javier Assad and Colin Rea in the rotation this early, but teams play the hand they are dealt, not the hand they wish they had.
Cade Horton walked off the mound after throwing just 7.1 innings and has
since had full Tommy John surgery. Porter Hodge also just had full reconstructive elbow surgery. Closer Daniel Palencia is on the IL with a lat strain. And the Opening Day starter, Matthew Boyd, who pitched to a 14-8 record and a 3.21 ERA across nearly 180 innings of work en route to an All Star nod in 2025 has been down with a left biceps strain since his second start of the season.
It was a breath of fresh air when manager Craig Counsell confirmed Tuesday that Boyd would return to the rotation Wednesday against the Phillies.
Boyd could stabilize a staff that has been running on hopes and prayers. Assad and Rea have shown a lot of grit since being pulled into the rotatation. But there’s a difference between grit and elite. Boyd’s early innings in 2026 were elite.
On paper Boyd’s first two starts look like a mixed bag. He threw just 3.2 innings giving up six hits and six runs (all earned) while striking out seven and walking one against the Nationals. He followed that up with a 5.2 inning two hit gem striking out ten against an Angels team that looks solid in the early going. Boyd notched 20 swings and misses against the Angels to go with the 20 swings and misses he had against the Nationals on Opening Day. To put that slightly differently, Boyd has been a strikeout machine so far in 2026. You can see his report cards from both starts according to PitcherList below:
The Phillies are a fierce offense on paper, however, they’ve been the worst team in baseball against lefthanded hitters in 2o26. Across 310 plate appearances against southpaws this season the Phillies are slashing just .171/.265/.280 with a wRC+ of 56.
In his rehab start in Iowa at Triple-A Iowa this past Thursday Boyd threw 64 pitches over 3.2 innings with six strikeouts and one walk. He may be on a pitch limit Wednesday, and that’s fine. The Cubs aren’t asking him to throw a complete game against the Phillies tonight, in fact, they’d rather lose 20 pitches tonight to keep him healthy for the rest of the season.
Here’s hoping Boyd’s return is the first piece of good injury news for a Cubs team that’s managed to piece together a .609 winning percentage through their first 23 games despite losing multiple frontend starters and high leverage relievers.
