Cubs Place Daniel Palencia on the Injured List. Will Edward Cabrera Follow Him? And, Uh, Then What?

Daniel Palencia understands how much is on the line right now—how fragile things really are in Wrigleyville. That's why he shook off a twinge in his elbow Monday night to pitch to the end of a scoreless top of the ninth inning, setting up the Cubs' walkoff win to open a homestand. It couldn't be ignored any longer than that, though, and now, Palencia is back on the injured list for the second time this season. Last time, he had a lat strain. This time, it's elbow inflammation. Expect a longer absence than the fortnight he missed in April—and expect, therefore, a real scramble to cover the innings for a team trying to stay in contention.

That will only be worsened if Edward Cabrera follows Palencia to the injured list, for what would also be his second stint this season. Cabrera wasn't effective Tuesday night, anyway, but he left in the fifth inning because of a cramp in his right hand, adding injury to insult. Cabrera's previous trip to the shelf was prompted by a blister, which proved a minor problem, and this could be a similar situation. The bigger problem is that Cabrera hasn't been able to rediscover his form from the first handful of starts this year—although, if the cramping turns out to be linked to any other problem farther up the kinetic chain, that could become the main issue in a hurry.

Matthew Boyd is, once again, heading out on a rehab assignment, so the Cubs anticipate some relief in their rotation soon. For the moment, though, this team is limping around, hampered by a series of injuries that have been far too damaging for their thin organizational depth to withstand—and by the failures of Colin Rea and Shota Imanaga to keep the ball in the park of late.

It's not at all clear what the team can do about this, though. Jaxon Wiggins has a great arm, but is hurt. Brandon Birdsell has had his career utterly derailed by injuries, and hasn't pitched at all in 2026. Brody McCullough is on the injured list for Triple-A Iowa, too. The best healthy starters the team's top farm team could offer them right now are Jordan Wicks (which the team has already tried, despite the experiment obviously being doomed to failure), Will Sanders, Connor Noland and Ty Blach. None of those three guys has an ERA under 5.00, and that's against Triple-A hitters. 

The Cubs do have six healthy relievers currently on optional assignment with Iowa, even after recalling Gavin Hollowell to replace Palencia on the roster. But the upside in that group is incredibly thin. Ditto for the handful of non-roster relievers also waiting for a chance. With Phil Maton seemingly having a lost season and Hunter Harvey nowhere near a return to the mound, a Palencia-less Cubs pen is as weak as their injury-ravaged rotation.

Light on farm system depth, the Cubs will have few options for making a splashy trade over the next month and a half. Instead, they'll have to ride this out and try to find a little bit of help—to stabilize this roster and try to sneak into the postseason, rather than to make any serious challenge to the Brewers for the NL Central crown. There are plenty of problems on the position-player front, but all of those could be survived. The pitching injury crisis, by contrast, is reaching a critical level that looks like it will torpedo the team's season. They don't develop pitching well enough to win without a bit of luck on the health front. Right now, they're getting no such luck.