Cubs dealt another starting rotation blow with sudden Matthew Boyd news

Already trying to work through the injury to Cade Horton, the Chicago Cubs are suddenly dealing with another injury in the starting rotation. The Cubs have placed Matthew Boyd on the 15-day IL with a left bicep strain. Javier Assad has been recalled from Triple-A Iowa and will start against the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday.

Cubs' starting rotation depth suddenly in question with Matthew Boyd's surprising injury.

After a concerning fourth inning in his Opening Day start against the Washington Nationals, Boyd was excellent in his most recent start against the Los Angeles Angels.

With Justin Steele already on the IL, the last thing the Cubs needed at the start of the season was to be down Boyd and Horton within the first two weeks of the season. If there is a silver lining for the Cubs, it's that Edward Cabrera looks to be every bit the top-of-the-rotation starting pitcher the Cubs expected him to be when they made the trade with the Miami Marlins.

In hindsight, it's an unfortunate confirmation of why the Cubs were still targeting starting pitching help as spring training approached. The Cubs were among the teams interested in Zac Gallen as his market bottomed out, but Gallen opted for a return to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Lucas Giolito, a starting pitcher the Cubs have been linked to in the past, remains available on the free-agent market.

As it stands, it would seem that Assad and Colin Rea will take residency in the Cubs' starting rotation over the next couple of weeks.

The starting pitching depth that the Cubs assembled throughout the offseason is starting to disappear. Justin Steele was always going to start the season on the IL, but the team certainly wasn't accounting for injuries to Boyd and Horton at this point of the year. Not to mention, former first-round pick Jordan Wicks is also injured. Ben Brown is pitching out of the bullpen to start the season, but his early results would suggest he shouldn't be considered for a spot in the rotation.

While Boyd's injury has a definitive timeline, the Cubs are still waiting for imaging to be done on Horton. The Cubs have expressed cautious optimism that Horton avoided a serious injury, but until there's an official diagnosis, it's fair to wonder when the next time is that Cubs fans will see him in the rotation.