Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Matthew Boyd needs knee surgery, Craig Counsell says

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The Chicago Cubs cannot catch any breaks.

After losing Cade Horton for the season and parts of next year and seeing Justin Steele suffer a setback in his elbow surgery recovery, the starting rotation suffered another blow on Wednesday.

What we know:

Cubs manager Craig Counsell said starting pitcher Matthew Boyd will undergo knee surgery to correct an issue with his meniscus. Boyd suffered the injury Wednesday morning while playing with his kids. 

There's no timetable for Boyd's return, Counsell said, but any kind of timeline will emerge after his undergoes surgery.

Boyd was already on the injured list earlier this season with a bicep strain.

When he returned from the IL, he pitched two different starts against the Phillies and Padres, allowing two runs in 4.2 innings vs. Philadelphia and five runs in four innings vs. San Diego, respectively. But, he recovered. Boyd helped lift the Cubs to a sweep of the Diamondbacks with a six-inning outing where he allowed just two runs with five strikeouts in the team’s 8-4 win over Arizona to complete the sweep.

Boyd has a 2-1 record with 31 strikeouts, a 1.29 WHIP and a 6.00 ERA so far in the 2026 season.

Now, he'll land back on the injured list for an undetermined amount of time.

What's next:

Both Cade Horton and Justin Steele are recovering from elbow surgery. This limited the Cubs' rotation. Losing Boyd for the foreseeable future is another blow the Cubs need to navigate.

Boyd didn't seem to have the same magic he found at the start of the 2025 season when he earned his first-career MLB All-Star Game nod. But, he was a key part of the rotation for a team that has playoff aspirations.

Even with these blows to the pitching rotation, the Cubs have shined. They've won seven straight after Tuesday night's win over Cincinnati.

At some point, these losses might come back to haunt the Cubs.

This also makes it more likely the Cubs will pursue a starting pitching as the trade deadline nears.