Edward Cabrera v. Kyle Harrison Was A Microcosm of Cubs v. Brewers

To put it mildly, the Chicago Cubs are struggling right now. A losing streak is never a good thing, and it feels so much worse when three of those losses come at the hands of the Milwaukee Brewers.  The very same Brewers that have won the division in each of the past three seasons. The very same Brewers that the Cubs have been trying to chase down for most of the last eight seasons, despite the Cubs having significantly more financial resources.

Let’s not kid ourselves, the Cubs made moves this past offseason with the specific intent to finally unseat Milwaukee in the National League Central. That is what makes this all so painful, as our own Matthew Trueblood wrote earlier this week: the Cubs are all in on this season. The Brewers are not. Yet they still completely outclassed the Cubs in their first meeting of the season. 

One of those offseason moves that the Cubs made was trading for Edward Cabrera. While he has been fine in his first 10 starts for the Cubs, he has been far from spectacular, and even pretty far from the pitcher he was just last season. The Brewers, on the other hand, traded for Kyle Harrison, who matched up against Cabrera and the Cubs on Wednesday night. 

As you’re likely aware, Harrison earned the win after he threw seven shutout innings, allowed only two hits and one walk, and struck out 11 Cubs. Cabrera, oppositely, was removed from the game in the fourth inning with a blister after allowing four runs (one earned) over three innings. 

Something about those two, specifically, going up against each other, and Harrison emphatically besting Cabrera, felt significant. There’s beating your opponent. Then there’s running up the score. Unfortunately, if you zoom out and compare the full-season stats for these two starters, Wednesday night’s result shouldn’t be all that surprising:

The Brewers acquired Harrison for a package centered around third-baseman Caleb Durbin. It feels like the Cubs absolutely could have offered something similar, centered around Matt Shaw. However, I am not nearly naive enough to suggest that Harrison would be this effective if he were on the Cubs.

This isn’t about Harrison vs. Cabrera. It’s about the Cubs vs. the Brewers. If these two pitchers switched teams, I have no doubt that Cabrera would be better off for it, and Harrison would be worse off. That is what really hurts. 

This is the case of two teams identifying pitchers that they liked and that had potential that they thought they could maximize. Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic reported that the Cubs had been “enamored” with Cabrera’s potential for a while. So far, that fascination is looking a bit misplaced. 

There’s still plenty of time for these wrongs to be righted. Cabrera is under team control through the 2028 season. Harrison is under team control through the 2030 season. It’s plenty early in either player’s tenure with his new team. 

Still, Wednesday night just felt like the Brewers were running victory laps around the Cubs. Not only have they resumed their rightful place atop the National League Central, but they’re doing it partially on the back of a pitcher that they targeted and is now one of the best pitchers in baseball. The guy that the Cubs targeted and went out and got has a 5.79 ERA in May.

The Cubs continue to try to catch the Brewers. The Brewers continue to prove that they are simply light years ahead of the Cubs. Is anyone even remotely surprised?