Chicago Cubs Pitchers of the Month: August 2026

[Andrew Wright]

Image courtesy of Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images

The calendar has officially flipped to September. Postseason baseball will be played this month. The Chicago Cubs enter September having gone 16-12 in August and setting several records with some absurd offensive production. All trade deadline acquisitions made their team debuts and while expectations for all were very high, the results and production haven't quite matched the expectations.

There have, though, been some outstanding performances when the Cubs needed it most. Here are your pitchers of the month for August.

Honorable Mention - Javier Assad - 4G, 13.2 IP, 1.98 ERA, 3R, 7K
Assad once again being optioned to Triple-A Iowa and not getting more major league appearances dropped him to the honorable mention spot on the list. Assad continued his stellar work in August, making one start and three appearances out of the bullpen. He's allowed just 6 runs in his last 31 2/3 innings and should be back with the major league club soon.

#3 - Aaron Civale - 8G, 18.1 IP, 0.98 ERA, 2R, 16K
Yep, just like we all thought headed into the season. Aaron Civale has been an incredible addition for Chicago since being acquired. Civale came to the Cubs with a 5.42 ERA, and he's now lowered that a full run to 4.50 entering play on Tuesday. He's been as reliable as anyone in the bullpen over the past month and is really making a case to be on the playoff roster for any round Chicago advances to.

#2 - David Peterson - 6G, 5GS, 28.2 IP, 2.83 ERA, 9R, 32K
Peterson is another example of an arm that Chicago added during the season that was supposed to just provide depth while the club awaited the return of several injured pitches. Instead, Peterson has become a reliable option in the rotation and has almost certainly cemented himself on a playoff roster. He's pitched to 3.90 ERA with the Cubs (6.10 with NYM) and has continued to get better with each passing month.

#1 - Clay Holmes - 5G, 5GS, 29 IP, 1.55 ERA, 5R, 18K
Holmes has been everything he was advertised to be since being acquired from the Mets ahead of the trade deadline. Things have played out exactly how they were supposed to and his heavy ground ball rate has fallen right into line with the best defense in baseball playing behind him. The strikeouts are certainly something that could benefit from increasing a bit and it appears that is heading in the right direction after he punched out 8 against the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday.

The additions of Kevin Gausman and Ryan Zeferjahn have not yet panned out, but Chicago will certainly need those two and others to be impactful if the club has any hope of getting past the NLDS for the first time since 2017.

View full article