Amid a seven-game losing streak and two wins in their past 13 games, the Chicago Cubs have placed starting pitcher Edward Cabrera on the 15-day injured list with a blister on his right middle finger.
In his 10 starts this season, Cabrera has compiled a 4.00 ERA with 47 strikeouts and 20 walks in 50 innings. That strikeout total is tied with Jameson Tallion for the second-most among Cubs starters behind Shota Imanaga’s 61.
Cabrera, 28, left his start last Wednesday in the fourth inning after throwing 61 pitches, 32 of them for strikes. He allowed four runs (three unearned due to errors on Carson Kelly and Pete Crow-Armstrong) with four hits and two walks in a 5-0 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.
Since beginning the season with no runs allowed in his first two starts, Cabrera has been tagged for three runs or more in eight consecutive appearances.
Expected to miss at least two weeks, Cabrera is the latest Cubs starting pitcher to go on the injured list, joining Matthew Boyd (left knee), Justin Steele (left elbow) and Cade Horton (right elbow). Horton will miss the rest of the 2026 season after undergoing an internal brace procedure. Steele is recovering from the same surgery performed in April 2025.
Cabrera, 28, was acquired from the Miami Marlins during the offseason in exchange for three prospects, including outfielder Owen Caissie. Last season was a career-best performance for Cabrera, who finished with a 3.53 ERA in 26 starts and 150 strikeouts in 137 2/3 inning.
Jordan Wicks was called up from Triple-A Iowa to take Cabrera’s place in the Cubs’ starting rotation. In seven starts, the 26-year-old has a 4.44 ERA with 20 strikeouts in 26 1/3 innings. He made eight relief appearances for the Cubs last season, compiling a 6.28 ERA and strikeout rate of 8.2 per nine innings.
This will be the fourth MLB stint for Wicks, the Cubs’ first-round pick (No. 21 overall) in 2021 out of Kansas State.
The Cubs held a 3.5-game first-place lead in the NL Central before their losing skid began. Since losing 13 of 15 games — including a three-game sweep by the Brewers —they’ve fallen 2.5 games behind, leaving them in third place by a half-game behind the St. Louis Cardinals going into Sunday’s play.
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