Cubs Week in Review: Not Enough Wins, and Too Much Worry

The first full week of the season started on such a hopeful note. Cubs fans got their first look at Edward Cabrera in blue pinstripes, and he did not disappoint. Using a nasty mix of stuff, Cabrera danced through six innings of one-hit ball and struck out five. The offense produced when it was necessary, including a home run from Ian Happ and RBI knocks from Dansby Swanson and Carson Kelly. It was more than enough to keep a distance between them and the visiting Angels in the opener of their three-game series.

Alas: it was practically all downhill from there. Tuesday night's contest highlighted the home side's early offensive struggles. Jameson Taillon kept the Angels off the board in his 4 2/3 innings of work, but the Cubs only mustered four total hits on a cold night, facing the hot heat of José Soriano. No major-league team—even one in the upper echelon—is immune to a slow start. The expectations for this Chicago Cubs team were so high going into the season, however, that the frustrations associated with the club's collective slump were magnified.

Hoping to regroup from a sluggish Opening Day start, veteran Matthew Boyd took the hill for the rubber match of the final game of the Cubs' season-opening homestand. Boyd looked much sharper in his second outing of the year, going nearly six innings and racking up 10 strikeouts. On the opposite side of the ledger, the North Siders plated six runs on 10 hits, offering a small preview of what their offense could look like when things are clicking. A fabulous day of pitching secured the club's first series win of the 2026 campaign.

In a year celebrating the 10th anniversary of the team's World Series championship, the Cubs next returned to the place where it all went down: Cleveland, Ohio. The faces, fortunes, and even one of the team's names are quite different than what they were then, but the series still felt important. For one thing, it was Cleveland's home opener, so the set kicked off with some pageantry. For another, the Cubs needed to find some rhythm, and narratively, Cleveland felt like the right place to do it.

Game one pitted staff ace Cade Horton of the Cubs against the Guardians' Joey Cantillo. The game glided uneventfully into the bottom of the second inning; that's when disaster struck. Horton saw his velocity sag, then left the game with forearm discomfort. He was immediately placed on the 15-day injured list, and now, it's breath-holding time until a full diagnosis of the issue is revealed. Colin Rea did yeoman's work in Horton's stead, but the Cubs dropped the game due a bullpen blowup.

A Midwestern squall Saturday set up a true doubleheader at Progressive Field on Easter Sunday. Swapping the order of starters from the first turn of the rotation, the Cubs trotted out the electric Cabrera for the first contest. In almost 12 innings pitched as a Cub, Cabrera has surrendered just two hits and no runs, after shutting out Cleveland for 5 2/3 frames Sunday. The movement on his breaking pitches is devastating, and the energy he's brought in the early going is infectious. His performance led the team to a 1-0 win.

The second game offered the North Siders the chance to raise their record above the .500 mark for the first time this season. It was an opportunity squandered. Shota Imanaga took the bump, and fared nicely in the face of mounting concerns over his penchant for surrendering the long ball. The Pitching Philosopher pitched five relatively strong innings and was charged with one earned run. To a degree, the Cubs' bats came to life, with home runs from Matt Shaw, Dansby Swanson, and Ian Happ. Their 3-0 lead held up until another lackluster appearance from Ben Brown, and another late collapse, this time by second-tier reliever Jacob Webb. Some of the club's regular boppers made it interesting late, bringing Carson Kelly to the dish down one with two runners in scoring position. A strikeout ended the game, though, giving Cleveland the series win as the Cubs head to St. Petersburg for their date with the Rays. 

Through the first week or so, the Cubs have shown glimpses of their upside, but they're in some immediate trouble. Injuries aside, this is far from a complete team. Chicago starts this week 4-5, looking up at all of their division rivals. The season isn't out of control just yet, but if you enter the season hoping to topple a team with three straight division titles in the bag, spotting them a three-game lead (while losing your ace, be it for a short time or a long one) is a poor way to go about it. It was a bad week; the Cubs need this to be a good one. The stakes might be highest off the field, though, as they await news on Horton.