Phil Maton’s season is over, and the Cubs are finally getting a little clarity on why.
Maton is set to undergo knee surgery this week after spending the stretch since July on the injured list. Once the procedure is finished, the Cubs are expected to share what exactly was done and offer an initial recovery timeline. There was never much real expectation that he’d pitch again for Chicago this year, but now it’s official.
The timing only sharpens the frustration around a move that has not worked out. The Cubs signed Maton to a two-year deal last November, banking on a reliever whose numbers and track record suggested stability.
Instead, the knee issue that had raised some concern last offseason never really went away. The plan had been for him to pitch through the discomfort and likely address it surgically later, but he was quickly shut down after landing on the IL in April with knee tendinitis.
He never looked right after that. In 31 appearances with the Cubs, Maton posted a 6.18 ERA, and once he went back on the IL in July, his season felt finished.
That hasn’t changed the Cubs’ approach, though. As rough as the results have been, they were never going to simply walk away from him. Maton is in the first year of that two-year contract, and the team is going to give him every chance to work through the problem rather than cut bait.
Even with the injury in the picture, Chicago still isn’t ready to move on. The Cubs see this as their issue to solve, and the best-case outcome is straightforward: the surgery clears up the knee problems, Maton is ready by Opening Day, and he gets a shot to become a useful bullpen piece again.
If that doesn’t happen, the leash gets a lot shorter in 2027, when he’ll be on an expiring deal. At that point, the Cubs won’t keep dragging the process along if the performance isn’t there.
For now, though, the bigger picture is the bullpen itself. That group is shaping up as a priority, and the late-season outlook has made one thing clear: the Cubs can’t always count on Jed Hoyer turning something into nothing. This winter may call for a different kind of move, one that means spending real money on an established closer.
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Cubs Bullpen Problems Could Push Jed Hoyer Into Unfamiliar Territory
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Jed Hoyer has usually had to make bullpen fixes with shorter-term, lower-cost moves, but this situation could force Chicago into a different lane. San Diego left-hander Adrian Morejon has surfaced as a possible high-end target, a sign that the Cubs may need to think bigger if they want real stability in the late innings, even with the financial and strategic hurdles that come with shopping at that level. [Read more 🡒]