Cubs' 2026 pitching disaster has Jed Hoyer whiffs sharing blame with brutal injuries

The Milwaukee Brewers are all but guaranteed to win the National League Central for the fourth straight season and fifth time in six years. One of the league's most well-rounded rosters has delivered all season long and the biggest question now is whether or not this is the group to finally get the franchise over the hump in October.

Milwaukee does everything well. It boasts a strong pitching staff, led by NL Cy Young frontrunner Jacob Misiorowski and anchored in the late innings by a dominant string of relievers, and a potent position player group. The Brewers rank second in the league in team WAR that trails only the Los Angeles Dodgers and they've gotten a good chunk of value from both the bats and the arms.

The Chicago Cubs, meanwhile, are a very different story. Craig Counsell's team ranked fifth in WAR entering Tuesday, with an MLB-best 34.5 batting WAR. On the other side of that equation, though, is a league-worst 3.6 pitching WAR.

The Cubs are in danger of wasting an MVP season from 24-year-old superstar outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong who singlehandedly has amassed 9.9 fWAR and a resurgent second-half from Alex Bregman. As good as that tandem has been down the stretch, the pitching staff has been every bit as bad, due to a combination of untimely (and significant) injuries and poor performance.

Suffice to say, there's plenty of blame to go around.

Cubs' woeful pitching staff could quickly be team's undoing in October

Cade Horton, Justin Steele, Edward Cabrera and Ben Brown have all missed significant stretches this year, with Steele yet to make his 2026 debut and Horton limited to only two starts before undergoing season-ending surgery. A recurring neck injury ended Brown's breakout campaign. Cabrera could still be a bullpen factor down the stretch, but he's left much to be desired even when healthy.

That's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the team's injury woes. The bullpen has also been decimated, but we can't just point to the injuries as the Cubs' biggest downfall. The simple truth is that almost all of Jed Hoyer's offseason moves geared toward solidifying the pitching staff have backfired - and backfired badly.

Sure, Jacob Webb has been largely brilliant. But his emergence hasn't been enough for Chicago to overcome injuries and ineffectiveness from Hunter Harvey and Phil Maton, the team's two highest-paid relievers. Cabrera, who came over in the deal that sent top-100 prospect Owen Caissie to the Marlins in January, hasn't come close to living up to the expectations that accompanied him north last winter.

How bad has this combination been? The Colorado Rockies' pitching staff that plays half its games at Coors Field has been nearly twice as valuable as the Cubs. Yet, somehow, Chicago is on the brink of punching its postseason ticket for the second straight year. That's all nice and well but the Cubs' glaring weakness will lead to a prompt exit in October unless some late-season reinforcements can instantly rewrite a narrative that's dogged this team since April.

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