Injuries and a struggling bullpen plague the Cubs' early season. Can they rebound like last year, or is this a deeper problem?
The season couldn’t have started worse for the Chicago Cubs.
Nothing has simply gone the Cubs' way in the early going.
Seiya Suzuki started the season on the 10-day injured list due to a knee injury, Matthew Boyd is dealing with a left bicep strain that recently landed him on the 15-day IL, and Cade Horton’s forearm is not looking good.
The injuries are obviously the Cubs' biggest concern right now. The North Siders are down their top two starting pitchers, and there’s a chance that Horton’s injury is a long-term one that keeps him out for the rest of the season.
On top of those early-season injuries, the Cubs' bullpen has struggled to begin the year. President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer had to revamp the bullpen this offseason after several relievers entered free agency.
Unfortunately, the new-look bullpen is not off to a great start.
Phil Maton has allowed four earned runs across 3 ⅓ innings (10.80 ERA). Hunter Harvey has given up three earned runs across 3 innings (9.00 ERA). Jacob Webb has allowed three earned runs across 3 ⅔ innings (7.36 ERA), and Ben Brown has given up four earned runs across 8 ⅔ innings (4.15 ERA).
Each of these four pitchers has played a part in Chicago’s recent losses. Harvey allowed two home runs in Friday’s game. Brown lost the lead on Sunday by giving up three runs in the sixth inning, and Webb then gave up three more in the eighth. Maton allowed two runs on Monday, which ended up costing the Cubs in a close game.
There’s no doubt that the bullpen has not looked great. This group has a 4.50 ERA through the first 10 games and has given up the fifth-most home runs. The newcomers, like Maton, Harvey, and Webb, have not carried their weight on the mound.
However, let’s not overreact too much to these early-season numbers.
The Cubs were in a similar spot with their bullpen just one season ago. Chicago’s bullpen had a 4.97 ERA (sixth-highest), issued 27 walks (third-most), and allowed 61 hits (most) after the first 15 games of the 2025 campaign.
Then, something clicked.
After those 15 games, the Cubs had a top-10 bullpen in baseball. They had a 3.66 ERA and issued the fewest walks (163) from April 11 onward.
So, Cubs fans shouldn’t read too much into the bullpen’s struggles early on. A lot of these pitchers are adjusting to their new roles on a new team, and manager Craig Counsell is also learning more about them every day.
Once everything clicks, this group will take off. Maton, Harvey, and Webb have all been strong options in their career and will eventually figure things out. This bullpen will be just fine moving forward.