Cubs’ rotation suffers huge blow thanks to former Guardians pitcher’s latest injury

Last week, the Chicago Cubs’ starting rotation suffered a huge blow when starter Cade Horton left the Guardians’ home opener after just one inning due to an arm injury that will likely result in him undergoing Tommy John surgery. 

Things got even worse for the Cubs on Monday thanks to former Guardians starter Matthew Boyd hitting the injured list due to a left biceps strain.

While Boyd has turned into an ace at the top of the Cubs’ rotation, injuries have been an unfortunate part of his career dating back to before he joined the Guardians in 2024. 

While Boyd was able to put that in the rearview thanks to a dominant 11-start span with the Guardians, they’re back to the front burner again thanks to Boyd’s IL placement. 

Former Guardians starter Matthew Boyd’s injury struggles are back 

Boyd got the honor of starting for the Cubs on Opening Day and has posted a 6.75 ERA in 9 1/3 innings, but he’s largely pitched well outside of a rough fourth inning against the Nationals in that Opening Day start. 

While he told reporters that he isn’t in pain right now, the injury has impacted his ability to bounce back, so the Cubs would rather take some time for him to heal up instead of trying to push it. The injury isn’t expected to keep him out for a long period of time. 

When Boyd joined the Guardians mid-way through the 2024 season, he was coming off a season where he had a 5.45 ERA in 71 innings for the Tigers before he eventually underwent Tommy John surgery. 

He spent the first half of the 2024 season rehabbing with the Guardians before making his debut in August. He posted a 2.72 ERA in 39 2/3 innings in the regular season for the Guardians before allowing just one run in three postseason starts. 

The Guardians didn’t express much of an interest in re-signing him after the season, and he ended up signing a two-year, $29 million deal with the Cubs. 

He posted a 3.21 ERA in 179 2/3 innings in the first year of that deal, but his injury issues have reared their head once again in what’s now the second year of that deal. 

Boyd’s signing has helped set the tone for the new era of Guardians’ pitching acquisitions, as Cleveland’s front office has started to make a habit of buying injured pitchers on the cheap in the hopes of rehabilitating them. 

They’ve had mixed results. While Boyd was an obvious success, their acquisition of Alex Cobb a couple months later was a bit of a dud. The same can be said for their signing of John Means ahead of the 2025 season. 

Ben Lively is the latest example of this, but we’re going to have to wait until 2027 to see how that signing works out. 

Boyd’s injury doesn’t seem like anything too serious, so he should be back soon. But even when he does return, the lingering threat of him getting injured isn’t going to go anywhere any time soon.