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Why Noah Schultz has ace potential & the Cubs offense is about to break out | Chicago Sports Tonight
ESPN's Jesse Rogers breaks down the first 2 weeks of the White Sox & Cubs seasons. How good can Noah Schultz be, and is he up for the long term? Jesse also explains why he believes the Cubs offense will turn around eventually, and it's no time to panic on the North Side.
It went from bad to worse for the Chicago Cubs.
The team took a massive blow to its pitching rotation and to its World Series aspirations when the team announced starting pitcher Cade Horton would undergo UCL surgery and miss the rest of this season and a part of the 2027 season.
That's been far from the only hit the Cubs have taken to their pitching staff, though.
What we know:
Horton's loss stings. It's just the biggest name to land on the injured list for the Cubs, and this is the second time he's had reconstructive surgery on the elbow. Horton's 2025 season is a big reason why the Cubs will miss him in 2026, he had an 11-4 record with a 2.67 ERA in 118 innings last season.
Currently, six of the 13 pitchers the Cubs named on their Opening Day roster three weeks ago are on the injured list.
Horton, Phil Maton, Hunter Harvey and Matthew Boyd are on the injured list, too.
Boyd is recovering from a left biceps strain and landed on the injured list on April 6. He's potentially returning on April 22 against the Phillies, according to MLB.com. Maton is recovering from right knee tendinitis and doesn't have a timetable for his return. Harvey is recovering from right triceps inflammation and is expected to be back in May.
However, it got worse this week for the Northsiders. Reliever Porter Hodge will undergo UCL surgery and will miss the entire 2026 season with a return set in 2027. Daniel Palencia was placed on the injured list Friday with a left oblique strain.
The Cubs pitching staff is in dire need of some good news.
What's next:
The Cubs will get Boyd back. That's some good news.
The other piece of good news is that Horton underwent UCL surgery on Friday, and the surgery was successful with no immediate complications.
"Cade talked about just kind of worrying about today and make today the best you can and just keep doing that, and that’s how you somehow speed this process along a little bit," Counsell told reporters on Friday. "But if you get too far ahead of yourself, it’s certainly a long recovery and that doesn’t help."
What will help the Cubs is getting starting pitcher Justin Steele back into the rotation. MLB.com noted he's expected to be back in the rotation at some point in the first half of the 2026 season.
Either way, the Cubs need some good news on the pitching front.