Cubs place starters Brown and Cabrera on IL
James Schiano reacts to the Cubs placing starting pitchers Ben Brown and Edward Cabrera on the injured list, explaining how Chicago is "basically out of options" when it comes to starters.
Video Transcript
Injuries just continue to ravage the Cubs starting rotation.
Just over the last few days, both Ben Brown and Edward Cabrera have been placed on the injured list, leaving the team without many legitimate options to actually start games.
In Brown's case, the injury seemingly came out of nowhere.
Just a few days after he threw six innings of two-run ball in his most recent start, he was placed on the IL with a neck strain, but the hope is he only misses the minimum 15 days.
For Cabrera, he was laboring in his start against the Mets this past Tuesday, walking four batters across five innings and doing his best to hang on to a big lead.
He forced a ground ball to escape a jam in the fifth inning, but needed to cover first base to do so.
While stretching to make the play, he wound up doing a split, straining his hamstring, and needed a cart to be helped off the field.
An MRI showed a significant strain, and right now he's still without a timeline to return.
This came right after Cabrera just missed a few weeks with a blister issue and has had a very hot and cold season himself.
And again, without these two, the Cubs are basically out of options right now.
Shota Imanaga is the only member of their opening day rotation who's still standing, and Brown and Cabrera just joined Cade Horton, Jameson Taillon, and Justin Steele on the injured list.
Luckily for them, Matthew Boyd is back from his injury and is expected to start Thursday night against the Mets.
Javier Assad and Colin Ray have done their best filling in with their own limited ceilings, and the Cubs just swung a trade for Mets pitcher David Peterson after their game on Wednesday night.
Expect Peterson to slot into the Cubs rotation immediately given their massive depth concerns, and he should pitch far better than his six ERA so far this season given his ground ball nature and the Cubs infield defense being significantly better than that of the Mets.
But still, it's all hands on deck right now for the Cubs as they desperately try to stay in the NL playoff race.
