MILWAUKEE – The Cubs’ quest for healthy arms has only just begun.
The team’s pitching situation is sort of a nightmare at the moment, with an entire rotation and late-inning relief mix on the IL at the same time. Some of those injured hurlers are working their way back. Some will be down deep into the summer, or even longer.
Injuries abound, but the games keep coming.
And so Jed Hoyer’s front office is on the hunt, unable to afford to leave any stone unturned.
So far, a patchwork effort on the pitching front has paid off.
Left-handed starter David Peterson was acquired in a Thursday trade and made his Cubs debut Saturday, turning in a solid effort, giving up only two runs in 5 1/3 innings.
Hoyer’s front office landed Peterson in a long-gestating deal with the Mets, the Cubs’ urgency to get a deal done increasing once righties Edward Cabrera and Ben Brown went on the injured list on the same day.
“It was nice to get Peterson, but there’s going to be more challenges ahead,” Hoyer said Thursday in New York. “We have to be prepared with that, talking about small trades, waiver-wire [pick-ups], released players, just looking everywhere we can for reinforcements.”
The waiver wire is where the Cubs found right-hander Bryse Wilson, who served as the bulk guy on a bullpen day Sunday. Reunited with former skipper Craig Counsell, the former Brewers chucker pitched 4 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball to set the Cubs up for a win.
“My best year of my career was in ‘23 with Couns,” Wilson said. “He’s a phenomenal manager. Being able to play with him and know that he has some sort of confidence in me? It’s been a couple years, but to know that he knows what kind of pitcher I am is awesome.”
Will the Cubs look back on a championship 2026 season and crown Peterson and Wilson their MVPs?
Unlikely.
But the task right now is staying afloat in a sea of injuries so they can even think about being contenders come September. Peterson and Wilson can help with that, and in their first outings, they did.
Expect Hoyer to keep hunting, exploring every corner of the baseball universe.
Wicks’ big moment
Lefty Jordan Wicks was an attempt at finding a fill-in for injured Cubs starters earlier this season. It did not go well.
Wicks was jettisoned back to the minor leagues after allowing 11 runs in 6 1/3 innings across a pair of late-May outings.
But facing dire pitching straits, the Cubs summoned him before Sunday’s series finale. And because the baseball gods like to do this sort of thing, it was Wicks on the mound in the game’s biggest moment.
Wicks stepped into a bases-loaded, nobody-out situation in a two-run game in extra innings. After walking in a run, he got a fly out and a double-play grounder to help the Cubs avoid disaster in their 4-3 win.
“That’s why you want to play this game,” he said, “for moments like that.”
Wicks hasn’t been the most attractive option as the Cubs look around for healthy arms amid an avalanche of injuries. But with better results, perhaps Wicks could emerge as another capable fill-in piece.
“I’ve got to earn it,” Wicks said. “My two outings this year, I didn’t show that, and I know that. It’s something that’s earned in this league, it’s not given to you. For me, it was exciting to come up, because it was another opportunity for me to try to do that.”