Matthew Boyd Surgery Puts More Pressure on Cubs Front Office

(Matt Marton-Imagn Images)

After an All-Star campaign in 2025, Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Matthew Boyd has not been able to repeat his success during the 2026 season.

Boyd just had his best start of the year, going six innings and allowing two runs against the Arizona Diamondbacks on May 3, but things got even worse for the 35-year-old Cubs starter on Wednesday.

According to manager Craig Counsell, Boyd will undergo surgery on his left meniscus and will be out for the foreseeable future. There is currently no timeline for his expected return.

In five starts this season, Boyd has thrown just 24 innings and is 2-1 with a 6.00 ERA. This injury now puts a third key Cubs starting pitcher on the shelf. And of course, it's the three starting pitchers who were penciled in as Chicago's top-of-the-rotation arms before the season.

Cade Horton had Tommy John surgery and is out for the entire 2026 season, and lefty Justin Steele has had setbacks in his TJ recovery and will now be out until at least the All-Star break.

There's that old adage in baseball that you can never have enough pitching, and the 2026 Chicago Cubs are a perfect example of why.

By all accounts, this is one of the best teams in baseball with a 24-12 record, riding a seven-game winning streak and holding a . The Cubs should be well positioned to make a run at the National League pennant. But the fear for every Cubs fan down the stretch is that they won't have enough pitching to get over the hump in an ultra-competitive division. The 19-17 are currently in last place in the NL Central, and they're only five games back of Chicago.