The Porter Hodge Injury is Another Blow to the Cubs' Right-Handed Bullpen Depth

The injured list keeps getting longer for the Chicago Cubs. The focus over the past few weeks has been the starting rotation—mainly the news that righthander Cade Horton will be out for the remainder of the season. The impact of an injury to a pitcher like Horton, who was on his way to being one of the top young starters in the game, is massive for the Cubs, who lack a true ace. Now, the bullpen is being ripped apart, too, by a series of injuries over the last week or so. Free-agent additions Phil Maton and Hunter Harvey are both on the 15-day IL, and so is Ethan Roberts. On Wednesday, we found out that Porter Hodge will be joining Cade Horton on the injured list for the rest of the season, due to UCL surgery. Though the jury was out on how much Hodge could actually be counted on this season, losing him for the season in mid-April will present the Cubs with another depth-related challenge.

After a breakout rookie season in 2024 wherein the 23-year-old posted a 1.88 ERA (2.75 FIP) with a WHIP under 0.90 in 43 innings pitched, he was set to be one of the team’s high-leverage relievers last year. In fact, before the 2025 season started, the armchair general managers in the Cubs subreddit were debating on whether the Ryan Pressly trade made sense, suggesting Hodge should be the answer in the ninth inning. Even though walks were probably always going to be a point of concern, the 6-foot-4 righty boasted a fastball that could touch the upper 90s, and a wipeout slider that made the 2019 13th-round pick a potential weapon for a bullpen lacking a shutdown option.

Relief pitching was a strength for the Cubs in 2025, with the bullpen finishing 11th in baseball with an ERA of 3.78. However, Hodge was a surprising non-factor, as he dealt with various injuries, pitching 33 innings in the majors with a ghastly 6.27 ERA. He still missed bats, as evident by his near 11 K/9, but he was hit around otherwise, giving up nine home runs in that small sample. Injuries aside, his fastball and slider velocity were a tick up from 2024, giving Cubs fans hope that Hodge could still overpower hitters, and would eventually work his way back into the pen. He had not yet thrown a pitch in 2026 before we got the news of this latest injury, which will certainly cost him not only 2026, but some of the 2027 season, too. The good news is that he's still pre-arbitration, so he remains a long-term option, but the club hanging onto him is no guarantee. The Cubs have one of the hardest bullpens to project, based on their affinity for making plenty of low-risk signings, so there is a non-zero chance that we have seen Hodge for the last time as a Cub.

Moving forward, the Cubs are going to have to find more serviceable right-handed relief options. With all the injuries that have unfolded already, the Cubs are carrying a whopping five lefties in their bullpen: Caleb Thielbar and Hoby Milner have been around since Opening Day, but now, Luke Little is back, along with Ryan Rolison and rookie Riley Martin. Ben Brown has been a nice revelation as a full-time reliever so far, closer Daniel Palencia has not allowed an earned run, and Colin Rea has carried over the effectiveness from last season. Now with Rea needing to join the rotation, another right-handed relief option is gone. Jacob Webb is active, but his ERA is north of 5.00, and the only other righty on the 40-man roster is Gavin Hollowell and his negative career WAR. He's hurt, too, though less severely; he just hit the 7-day IL for Iowa.

The 9-9 Cubs can sit tight and hope this lefty-heavy group can hold their own until Maton, Harvey and Roberts are back, but the chase for the NL Central crown is looking a lot tougher with the way Cincinnati and Pittsburgh have opened their seasons. The Cubs will be shopping for relievers come July, but they might need new faces in this group before then. The problem is, they don't have a ton of promising options.

As for prospects, Jaxon Wiggins might be up at some point this summer, but his services could be needed in the thinned-out rotation. Their next-best pitching prospect is 19-year-old Kaleb Wing, the club’s No. 12 prospect, according to mlb.com. There is one interesting option who sits on their top 30 prospect list: 26-year-old Grant Kipp, who has thrown 8 1/3 scoreless innings to open the season with Knoxville. He is not an overpowering arm, but what he’s done so far has worked. What’s wrong with riding the hot hand?

Out west in Des Moines, there’s not a whole lot to be excited about from righties. There is a 30-year-old, 6-foot-8 reliever named Gabe Klobotsits, who has a 2.08 ERA. Former top prospect turned journeyman Vince Velazquez is trying to make the majors for the first time since 2023 and has the fourth-lowest WHIP on the team (1.05), trailing Paul Campbell, Zac Leigh, and, you guessed it, Gabe Klobosits. The cupboard is bare. Free agency is just as grim, but maybe they can pry Jorge Lopez away from the Saraperos de Saltillo of the Mexican league. Flamethrower Michael Kopech is still out there, but he’s coming off a season wherein he only pitched 11 innings due to injuries and still isn’t healthy.

Guys are hitting the waiver wire all the time, and the Cubs shouldn’t be doomed once some of these arms start coming back, but the Hodge injury is a huge blow to their right-handed bullpen depth, something that could be foreseen as an issue this whole season. If there is one silver lining to playing the Mets, Phillies, and Dodgers over their next three series, it is that those lineups are built around their stud lefty hitters, giving the lefty-heavy bullpen a bit of an advantage. They will need to figure out what to do when they head to San Diego at the end of the month and face off against Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and Xander Bogaerts.