4 Cubs players who emerged as the biggest individual disappointments of 2026

A second consecutive playoff appearance is great, but it doesn't constitute a successful season. Not when you're a team with the resources of the Chicago Cubs - and one that came into the year viewed as wholly capable of taking down the Los Angeles Dodgers.

An 89-73 record represented a three-game swing in the wrong direction and, while Chicago was a second-place team, it finished 14 games back of Milwaukee in the division race and stumbled into the postseason after a sub-.500 month of September. Pete Crow-Armstrong turned in a season for the ages, but four of his teammates were major disappointments. Let's go through the list.

Disappointment sums up the season of these 4 important Cubs players

Moises Ballesteros

I know, it feels like a lifetime ago we were all wondering if Moises Ballesteros was on the brink of becoming the Cubs' version of a younger Alejandro Kirk. He came into the year with a clear runway to seize a full-time job and, after an otherworldly start to the season, during which he slashed .338/.392/.620 through the end of April, he cratered and wound up getting traded at the deadline.

Ballesteros was one of the Cubs' top-ranked prospects and he carried some big expectations because the one thing he's always done is hit. The presumption was that he'd continue to do so at the big-league level. That wasn't the case. Between the Cubs and Angels, he finished with an OPS just over .600 and a 72 OPS+.

Edward Cabrera

If I'm giving out rankings, Edward Cabrera takes top billing as the king of disappointment for the 2026 Cubs. Honestly, it feels like we, as a collective fanbase, were catfished. He came over in January in a trade with the Marlins and all the talk was that he was about to blossom into an ace. Turns out, he was anything but.

The right-hander posted a 5.96 ERA on the year, hitting the injured list multiple times for various injuries and was about as inconsistent and unreliable as any pitcher in the game. The Cubs have to hope and pray they can get him right because he's under team control for two more years. What we got this year simply can't be the pitcher he is moving forward.

Phil Maton

'Disappointing' is a word that was often associated with Cubs pitchers this season and Phil Maton was no exception. After receiving a multi-year deal (a rarity on the North Side, especially in the bullpen), it was clear the front office viewed the veteran as a key out-getter. Well that assessment proved to be wildly misplaced because Maton was largely incapable of getting outs.

His season eventually ended early due to knee surgery and, given he hit the IL a few times with a knee issue, hopefully it means there are greener pastures ahead for both Maton and the Cubs. The bullpen was a major issue all season long and had Maton been effective, that may not have been the case - or at least not to as drastic of an extreme.

Michael Busch

A quick glance at 20 homers, 27 doubles and 77 RBI - you might think that's pretty solid. It's far from elite, though, and in 2025, Michael Busch showed he was capable of putting up numbers on par with the game's best first basemen. This year, however, his power stroke evaporated, leaving a hole in the Cubs' order.

Busch slugged just .393, punching out in around a quarter of his at-bats. Given the heaters he went on in 2025, I genuinely thought he might win a Silver Slugger this season. That's not how things played out though, and as Jackson Ferris and Zyhir Hope near the bigs, fans are only going to want more from the Chicago first baseman.

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