The Chicago Cubs had some questions about their starting rotation coming into the 2025 season.
Those questions, however, were more focused on the back end of the rotation. Specifically, the fifth spot, which appeared to be entirely up for grabs.
With Justin Steele, Shota Imanaga, Jameson Taillon, and free agent addition Matthew Boyd slated to be the front four, there were several candidates vying for the last starter gig. Among those in consideration were Javier Assad, Ben Brown, and veteran free agent signee Colin Rea.
There seemed to be little cause for concern, if all things went according to plan.
In baseball, though, all things rarely go according to plan.
Chicago Cubs Starting Pitching Setbacks
Steele had to have season-ending elbow surgery. Assad has been down twice with oblique issues and may not be back until mid-season. Imanaga, meanwhile, is currently on the IL with a hamstring injury and there’s no timeline yet on when he may be back in the rotation.
The strain on the team has been less profound than one might think it would be. Credit that to a stellar offense that has ranked among baseball’s best. Credit that, also, to a remaining rotation that has performed remarkably well throughout the bad news.
Stepping Up
Boyd has stepped into the spotlight as de facto ace, posting a 2.78 ERA through 8 starts. Taillon’s 4.53 ERA is nothing spectacular, but he’s been steady and sturdy in the middle of the rotation. Brown has shown flashes of his true potential. And, most welcome of all, Rea has been brilliant with a 2.48 ERA in 9 appearances, which include 6 starts.
In Monday’s game with the Miami Marlins, Rea, who was signed to a 1-year, $5 million deal this past offseason, was given a standing ovation at Wrigley Field as he left the game after a performance that saw him give up just two earned runs in 6.2 innings pitched.
“This is,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell gushed to media after the game, “exactly the reason that we thought he was an important piece in the offseason.”
“It doesn’t feel flashy, and it doesn’t feel overpowering, but it’s good,” Counsell added. “He knows what he’s doing. He’s good at his craft. He’s a pitcher. He knows how to navigate an inning, navigate different types of hitters, and how his stuff plays against everybody. He’s very self-aware.”
There have been some definite feel-good moments within this battered starting rotation. There’ve been enough of them to, maybe, cloud perspective.
Reality Will Hit Hard
Johnny Flores Jr. of The Athletic, contributing to the website’s recent MLB Power Rankings article, spotlighted the reality destined to present itself further down the Cubs’ road:
“…What the Cubs surely will miss, especially down the stretch, is an ace like Steele. Ace-level starters don’t just grow on trees, you know? Having a dependable No. 1 could mean the difference between winning the NL Central and sitting out another October. It also creates a tall task for Jed Hoyer’s front office, as the Cubs won’t be the only team in search of a starter…and through the early parts of the season, it looks like it’ll be slim pickings come July.”
The cold, hard reality is that any team serious about a deep postseason run has to have a serious rotation and at least one proven shutdown starter. The Cubs, staffed with some overachieving assets and unproven talents, don’t have that right now.
Fans would like to believe that Rea, with his lifetime 4.42 ERA, will keep throwing gems and that the oft-injured Boyd, who hasn’t thrown more than 100 innings since 2019, will deliver greatness for a full season. They’d also like to believe that Imanaga will bounce back entirely after a tricky hamstring injury and that Assad will come back as well, dealing like 2024 at the tail end of the rotation.
There’s also the belief that the famously frugal Cubs organization will pull off some stellar deal for an ace at the trade deadline, despite having to compete with at least a half dozen other, historically more daring, teams looking to do the same.
That’s a lot of believing.
This is not to say that all of the above won’t happen or that, at the very least, enough of the above will happen to get the Cubs where they need to be. It’s just a lot and it will require some major efforts from both players and front office, as well as some major positive twists of fate.
Cross your fingers.
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