Jaxon Wiggins finally gets update Cubs have been waiting for, but isn't an immediate fix

To say that the Chicago Cubs are experiencing bad injury luck with their pitching staff this year would be the understatement of the century. Their injured list is a who's who of the best arms on the roster, now featuring Edward Cabrera and Ben Brown after a sweeping set of transactions.

Their rotation currently goes three healthy players deep: Shota Imanaga, Colin Rea, and Javier Assad. That trio should inspire absolutely zero confidence in the fate of this team. Vince Velasquez is not saving this group, and we already know what happens if Jordan Wicks is asked to come up and cover some innings.

It is within that context that I come bearing some semblance of good news: Jaxon Wiggins is expected to make his next start at Triple-A Iowa. The Cubs' top pitching prospect recently returned from his elbow injury with abbreviated outings in the Complex League and High-A, and he's apparently healthy enough to resume his usual duties at the highest level of the minors.

While that is a positive update, it's also not the Cubs' ticket to surviving this injury onslaught. Even if Wiggins were healthy, he alone couldn't make up for all of the talent missing from the North Siders' rotation.

Cubs must resist temptation to thrust Jaxon Wiggins into rookie savior role

We all know how good Wiggins can be when he's on top of his game. He was tremendous in 2025, climbing from High-A to Triple-A while compiling a 2.19 ERA and 2.94 FIP. If you looked only at his strikeout rate (31.5%) or batting average allowed (.160), you could probably have made a good case for him to open this year with the big-league club.

However, that ignores his injury history and lack of experience; the 24-year-old has never started in more than 18 games or tossed more than 78 innings in any pro season. He's also certain not to surpass either of those thresholds in 2026 following his long layoff.

As the most talented pitcher in the farm system, the temptation to promote Wiggins to Chicago and give him the keys to the malfunctioning rotation will be difficult to ignore, especially if his return to Iowa goes smoothly. But that's a shortsighted solution to a problem that is almost guaranteed to sink the Cubs anyway, not to mention an incredibly stressful environment to introduce a rookie to.

Yes, 2026 was meant to be different for the Cubs. A path to the playoffs still exists, especially if the offense fully rediscovers its early season mojo. However, Wiggins is more important to the future of this franchise than most -- rushing him and his recovering elbow to the majors is a recipe for further disaster. It's for the best if the team exhausts all other options, no matter how uninspiring, before giving their top prospect a hand on the wheel.

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