With Matthew Boyd Out for Months, How Will Cubs Patch Their Starting Rotation?

It would have been presumptuous to get grumpy with the baseball gods when Cade Horton went down with a torn UCL early last month. That's the cost of doing business, especially when a team leans on pitchers with long injury histories. Relatedly, neither the Cubs nor their fans could justifiably claim to be surprised when Justin Steele suffered a setback later in April, pushing off his return from a second elbow reconstruction for what could be months. That, too, is in the normal run of things. 

You're allowed to be a little bit mad at Dame Mutability now, though. She's been very unkind to the Cubs this year, and dealt by far her cruelest blow Wednesday. The Cubs announced that Matthew Boyd will have to undergo surgery for a torn meniscus in his knee, after suffering the injury while sitting down to play with his young children at home. That's just unfair. Boyd is one of the great people in the game, and his career has been pockmarked by plenty of injuries, already. Now, the Cubs could be without his services until late summer, or even for the balance of the season, and the injury he suffered has nothing to do with baseball itself.

The loss puts the Cubs in a brutal predicament when it comes to their starting rotation, too. With Horton gone for the year and Steele's return now in doubt, they're down to Edward Cabrera, Shota Imanaga, Jameson Taillon, Colin Rea, and Javier Assad in terms of available starters. Top prospect Jaxon Wiggins has tantalizing stuff, but his lack of command renders him unready for the majors right now—and besides, his own arm has been hurting him this spring. Injuries in the bullpen (and his skill set, which has always better placed him there, anyway) have forced Ben Brown to morph into a true reliever. Jordan Wicks has a 9.53 ERA in four Triple-A starts. No more help is coming from within for a while. The team is operating without a safety net, and there are real reasons to worry about the durability of Cabrera, Imanaga and Taillon.

For now, the team is playing tremendously well. Jed Hoyer's offseason efforts to add depth to the pitching staff are paying reasonably good dividends. The team could have spent more for better reinforcements in (especially) the bullpen, but they're still sorting through some usable options in the relief corps. Trent Thornton was a savvy January pickup. Corbin Martin and Ryan Rolison were similarly solid moves, and Collin Snider could prove to be another one when the time comes.

Eventually, though, this team will need help from beyond the current boundaries of the organization. Boyd's injury guarantees that the Cubs' top priority come July will be some kind of help for the starting rotation. It could take many forms, but one way or another, the team will have to explore the trade market. In the meantime, the club had better hope no more major injuries come. Their margin for error is gone.