Cubs' big free agent bust looks worse than ever after latest injury update

Lately, it's felt like all good news when it comes to injured Chicago Cubs pitchers. Edward Cabrera and Daniel Palencia are both in the midst of minor-league rehab assigments and, after an eventful trade deadline, pitching depth (finally) isn't a concern for Jed Hoyer and Craig Counsell.

It's only fitting, then, to get some bad news. The recurring knee issues of reliever Phil Maton are more severe than the team initially thought. He hit the IL three times this year with what was labeled 'knee tendonitis' - but now has a diagnosis of a partially torn patellar tendon, which puts his return to the mound this year very much up in the air.

Maton, who the Cubs signed to a two-year, $14.5 million deal with a team option for 2028 last winter, has been a major disappointment - and, really, you have to hope the knee issue is behind his struggles. The right-hander entered 2026 coming off an impressive season split between Texas and St. Louis, posting a 2.35 ERA across 40 appearances. This year, though, it's been a very different story.

In 31 outings, Maton has a 6.18 ERA and his Baseball Savant page offers zero cause for optimism - a stark departure to last year when he did pretty much everything well, despite a below-average fastball velocity. He rode his spin to success. All the Cubs have gotten out of him to this point is more of a downward tailspin, rather than an elite out-getter.

With recent moves, Cubs can afford to proceed slowly with Phil Maton

There's no reason to rush Maton back. You know that, when he's not 100 percent, he's a complete liability on the mound. Given the Cubs' multi-year investment in him, the focus needs to be (and no doubt is) on getting him back to full strength so he can provide value in the bullpen in 2027.

The pitching picture will soon grow more crowded by the day as injured arms return to a staff that was reinforced at the deadline via trades for Clay Holmes, Kevin Gausman, Ryan Zeferjahn and Braxton Garrett. Chicago has gotten this far without any sort of contribution from Maton and, frankly, have never been in a stronger position to carry on without him than it is right now.

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