Cubs lefty Matthew Boyd hurts knee playing with his kids in latest hit to injury-plagued pitching staff

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Cubs starting pitcher Matthew Boyd needs to undergo surgery on his left knee to repair a meniscus injury, manager Craig Counsell told reporters Wednesday. The injury happened when Boyd was sitting down to play with his kids, Counsell said.

The initial takeaway is that this inducts Boyd into the unfortunate injury Hall of Fame. Francisco Liriano suffering a broken arm while trying to scare his kids at Christmas is up there and I can never shake Jeremy Affeldt slicing his hand open while trying to separate frozen hamburger patties at a cookout. There was once a violent Sammy Sosa sneeze and, of course, who could forget the Glenallen Hill/spider incident?

On the field, this one really hurts the Cubs, at least in terms of depth. Boyd hasn't been good at all so far this season. He's pitched to a 6.00 ERA and 1.29 WHIP in 24 innings. The big problem is that he was likely to get better moving forward, and now the Cubs' depth has been depleted.

Remember, Cade Horton is out for the season and Justin Steele suffered a setback in his attempted return from Tommy John surgery. The Cubs entered the season with eight viable starters, but until Boyd -- or Steele, if he somehow is back before Boyd -- returns, the number is now just five.

It looks like the Cubs will have little margin for error in the rotation now with Shota Imanaga, , , and . is too valuable at this point in his bullpen role to change jobs again and the top minor-league option, , is currently injured.