The Cubs have had enough twists and turns in 2026 to make just about any fan dizzy. One night they’re hanging 23 runs on the Padres, the next they’re getting blasted by St.
Louis, which turned around and scored 17 at Wrigley in the very next game. In a division this crowded, every break matters, so it would be easy to look at Brewers right-hander Brandon Woodruff heading back to the injured list and see a little daylight opening up in the NL Central race.
That reaction makes sense on the surface. Woodruff has been one of the most dangerous starters in baseball when he’s available, and this season he owns a 2.98 ERA across nine healthy starts. From Chicago’s point of view, the road to the top gets a lot friendlier when Milwaukee isn’t rolling him out there.
But the Cubs have already learned the hard way that betting against the Brewers because of one injury is a risky game.
Milwaukee has spent years proving it can absorb hits that would wreck other clubs. When Christian Yelich broke his kneecap in 2019, the Brewers still kept dominating.
Woodruff’s own availability has been a constant issue too; since the end of the 2022 season, he has made just 31 total starts, including this year. Even so, Milwaukee kept moving.
That’s the lesson Chicago should be taking to heart now. The Cubs have been hammered on the mound in 2026, with Cade Horton lost for the year after only two starts and Ben Brown going down more recently after a 68-inning breakout. Those setbacks have thrown the pitching staff into chaos.
The Brewers dealt with a similar kind of blow last year and still finished the regular season with the NL’s best record. Robert Gasser, another young arm with a big future, was lost after just two starts when he needed Tommy John surgery. And while Brown has been a meaningful loss for Chicago, he has already thrown more innings this year than Milwaukee got from Woodruff in 2025.
What separated Milwaukee was depth. The Brewers were able to keep going because they had young pitchers ready to step in and matter.
Jacob Misiorowski, Chad Patrick and Quinn Priester all helped provide value even though none had arrived in 2025 with a proven big league track record. That kind of pipeline helped carry them all the way to the NLCS.
If the Cubs want to get back there for the first time since 2017, they may need to build the same kind of resilience.
In Other News...
Cubs Face A Draft Risk They Really Cannot Afford Again
The Cubs head into the upcoming MLB Draft with a familiar need hanging over the board: pitching, and especially pitching that can actually move the needle in an organization light on high-end arms. That urgency makes the first round feel less like a luxury pick and more like a chance to start fixing a long-running problem, even if the pool of college arms comes with the usual medical questions.
Chicagos caution is understandable after recent swings on injured pitchers such as Cade Horton and Jaxon Wiggins, and it has left the club wary of repeating the same mistake. One of the names drawing attention comes with enough arm-related concern to make the Cubs think twice, which is exactly the kind of draft crossroad they can ill afford to get wrong again. [Read more 🡒]
Cubs Finally Got The Boyd And Bregman Boost They Needed
The Cubs opened their three-game set in Baltimore with a 5-2 win, and the night had the kind of shape they have been looking for from two of their bigger additions. Matthew Boyd gave them six scoreless innings with seven strikeouts, his most extended outing since coming off the injured list, while Alex Bregman came through with the sort of timely contact that can change a game when runners are on base.
Boyds line was the bigger story, especially after he worked through a couple of baserunners and still kept the Orioles off the board, and manager Craig Counsell made clear afterward how much that mattered. Bregman also helped push the Cubs into control with an RBI single and another run-producing play later, giving Chicago a needed boost from the middle of the order even as some of the lineups struggles continued to linger. [Read more 🡒]
Cubs Deadline Pressure Is Growing Around One Problem They Can't Escape
With the amateur draft still occupying most front offices, the trade market has not fully come into focus yet, but the Cubs already know the kind of problem they will be trying to solve. Chicagos pitching staff has been hit hard by injuries, leaving the club in a spot where the need is less about sorting starters from relievers and more about simply finding healthy arms. Craig Counsell has framed the deadline ask in broad terms, and that makes sense with so many pieces unavailable.
The list of sidelined pitchers is long enough to shape how the Cubs think about July, from Justin Steele and Cade Horton to Hoby Milner and Daniel Palencia. Jameson Taillon is at least moving in the right direction after a rehab outing in which he worked 3 1/3 innings and 45 pitches, and he is expected to make one more rehab start before rejoining the rotation after the All-Star break. Even then, Chicago may have to manage him carefully early on, which only underscores why the deadline pressure around pitching keeps building. [Read more 🡒]