Matt Johnson
The Chicago Cubs entered the 2026 MLB season with a strong rotation even with Justin Steele on the injured list recovering from elbow surgery. Following a week-long stretch that saw Cade Horton and Matthew Boyd go down, fans have wondered if the team could bring in free agent Lucas Giolito.
Giolito pitched well this past season in his first year back from elbow surgery, compiling a 3.41 ERA with a 1.29 WHIP across 145 innings pitched. However, he remains a free agent and would seemingly provide Chicago with a viable starter to eat innings.
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However, per Fansided‘s MLB insider Robert Murray, the Cubs are “most likely” to move forward with their internal options to fill the void in the rotation. A lot of that has to do with the fact that Chicago’s front office reportedly is very “confident” in what it already has for pitching depth.
In addition, Steele isn’t that far away from a return. After undergoing UCL surgery just a year ago, the 2023 All-Star recently faced hitters in live batting practice to begin the month. He’s making gradual progress in his recovery, and after a multi-start rehab assignment, the hope is he rejoins the Cubs rotation by the start of June.
Furthermore, Chicago’s internal options are performing adequately. Colin Rea sports a 3.18 ERA with just four earned runs allowed across 11.1 innings, and Javier Assad allowed just one hit in 5.2 scoreless innings in his first start.
This isn’t even accounting for top prospect Jaxon Wiggins. The 24-year-old righty is currently making starts for Triple-A Iowa. While he hasn’t quite looked major-league ready early in the season, the organization is hopeful he could step in to make starts if necessary this summer.
