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By Jon Paul Hoornstra
Contributing Sports Writer
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In his annual season preview of the Chicago Cubs, FanGraphs' Dan Szymborski was prepared for the worst: "Heck, if Colin Rea or even Connor Noland were forced into starting some games," Szymborski wrote back in January, "that wouldn’t be an apocalyptic scenario for the Cubs."
Flash forward to June, and the Cubs would welcome the sight of four horsemen, if the horsemen could locate a fastball and avoid the injured list.
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One day after Edward Cabrera was removed from his latest start with a hamstring injury, Ben Brown was placed on the 15-day IL with a neck strain. The injuries effectively left the Cubs with three healthy starters until Matthew Boyd is activated from the IL on June 25.
Among their healthy starters, only Boyd and Shota Imanaga were slated for the Cubs' MLB rotation when the season began. Their current third starter, Javier Assad, was seen as minor league depth. He's been forced to make five starts in the season's first half and, fortunately for the Cubs, pitched serviceably (3.89 ERA, 4.42 FIP) in 44 innings.
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Still, no one projected the Cubs to be in third place, 7.5 games behind the first-place Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central, just 78 games into the season.
In addition to Brown and Cabrera, the Cubs' injured list features starting pitchers Justin Steele (recovering from elbow surgery), Jameson Taillon (hamstring strain), Cade Horton (recovery from elbow surgery) and, for the moment, Boyd. Pitching injuries don't explain all that ails the Cubs, but it's a good place to start.
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Right-handers Vince Velasquez, Tyler Ferguson and Gavin Hollowell were promoted from Triple-A Iowa on June 24. Velasquez, 34, had a 6.15 ERA at Iowa. Ferguson, 32, was acquired by the Cubs from the A's in May. He and Hollowell (career ERA: 5.73) will likely pitch out of the bullpen while Velasquez heads to the rotation.
Suffice it to say, this wasn't Plan A, B, C, D, or E when the 2026 season began. It's not yet halfway over, but the Cubs are already on Plan F — an appropriate health grade for their team so far.
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