AS we all know, 2026 has been a terrible season for injuries to Chicago Cubs pitchers. I’ve head this compared to 1985, as far as how injuries decimated a pitching staff, so I decided to take a closer look at that 1985 team, to see how the injuries stack up against 2026.
1984 had been a magical year for the Chicago Cubs, breaking a nearly 40-year drought on playoff appearances. Things took a sad turn once the team finally reached the playoffs, as they lost a heartbreaking 5-game series to the San Diego Padres. But it could not put a damper on the joy of the season as a whole, and hope for the future.
Then came 1985.
After a 96-win season in 1984, the 1985 Cubs went 77-84, 23.5 games out of first place. And they would not see the playoffs again until 1989.
Here were the starters in 1984, and some of their numbers:
| Name | W | L | GS | IP | ERA | WAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rick Sutcliffe | 16 | 1 | 20 | 150.1 | 2.69 | 4.8 |
| Dennis Eckersley | 10 | 8 | 24 | 160.1 | 3.03 | 2.8 |
| Scott Sanderson | 8 | 5 | 24 | 140.2 | 3.14 | 3.6 |
| Rich Bordi | 3 | 1 | 7 | 38 | 3.32 | -0.1 |
| Steve Trout | 13 | 6 | 31 | 189 | 3.43 | 3.3 |
| Dickie Noles | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 3.86 | 0.1 |
| Chuck Rainey | 5 | 7 | 16 | 85 | 4.34 | 1.1 |
| Dick Ruthven | 6 | 10 | 22 | 125.2 | 5.01 | 0.7 |
| Rick Reuschel | 4 | 5 | 14 | 82.2 | 5.23 | 1.2 |
| Reggie Patterson | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 9.00 | 0 |
| Don Schulze | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 12.00 | 0.1 |
| Total | 65 | 45 | 161 | 965.2 | 3.69 | 17.6 |
The top 5 of the rotation pitched in 75.1% of the games, and Rick Sutcliffe did not join the Cubs until June 13th. If you include the 15 starts that Sutcliffe made for Cleveland (replacing Chuck Rainey), the number would be expected to be about 84.5%.
Compare this with what happened in 1985
| Name | W | L | GS | IP | ERA | WAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | W | L | GS | IP | ERA | WAR |
| Dennis Eckersley | 11 | 7 | 25 | 169.1 | 3.08 | 4.3 |
| Scott Sanderson | 5 | 6 | 19 | 121 | 3.12 | 2.2 |
| Rick Sutcliffe | 8 | 8 | 20 | 130 | 3.18 | 2.4 |
| Reggie Patterson | 3 | 0 | 5 | 34.2 | 3.37 | 0.6 |
| Steve Trout | 9 | 7 | 24 | 140.2 | 3.39 | 1.3 |
| Ray Fontenot | 6 | 9 | 23 | 134 | 4.57 | 0.7 |
| Dick Ruthven | 4 | 7 | 15 | 79.2 | 4.63 | 0.8 |
| Jay Baller | 0 | 3 | 4 | 22.2 | 4.76 | -0.1 |
| Johnny Abrego | 1 | 1 | 5 | 22.2 | 5.56 | 0.1 |
| Derek Botelho | 1 | 3 | 7 | 39 | 5.77 | -0.2 |
| Steve Engel | 1 | 5 | 8 | 46.2 | 5.79 | -0.2 |
| Larry Gura | 0 | 3 | 4 | 17.1 | 8.83 | -0.1 |
| Lary Sorensen | 0 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 9.00 | -0.3 |
| Total | 49 | 61 | 162 | 970.2 | 4.01 | 11.4 |
All of the Cubs starters missed time in 1985, and the top 5 only started 68.5% of the games. The ERA went up by four-tenths of a run, as would be expected, moving the Cubs 7th to 14th in MLB.
So it does appear that injuries to the rotation did hurt the Cubs quite a bit. But what might have hurt the team even more was going from 3rd in runs scored all the way down to 17th. Injuries played a part here, especially to Bob Dernier and Gary Matthews.
But the big difference between the starter injuries of 2026 versus 1985 is that none of the Cubs’ starters suffered season-ending injuries in 1985, and they were not hoping for the return of their top starter from the previous season who had suffered a season-ending injury.
Here are the starters numbers for 2026 – minus the 3 opener games
| Name | W | L | GS | IP | ERA | WAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ben Brown | 3 | 1 | 8 | 42.1 | 1.70 | 1.4 |
| Cade Horton | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7.1 | 2.45 | 0 |
| Javier Assad | 4 | 1 | 7 | 37 | 3.65 | 0.1 |
| Shota Imanaga | 5 | 7 | 18 | 103 | 4.28 | 1 |
| Colin Rea | 5 | 4 | 14 | 72.1 | 4.60 | 0.3 |
| Matthew Boyd | 3 | 1 | 7 | 33.2 | 5.08 | 0.8 |
| Edward Cabrera | 5 | 4 | 14 | 72.1 | 5.10 | 0.2 |
| Jameson Taillon | 2 | 5 | 13 | 67.2 | 5.19 | -0.7 |
| David Peterson | 1 | 1 | 2 | 9.1 | 11.57 | -0.1 |
| Jordan Wicks | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6.1 | 15.63 | 0.1 |
| Total | 29 | 26 | 87 | 451.1 | 4.62 | 3.2 |
So, the 5 starters who started the season have started only 62% of the games. And if you sub in Justin Steele for Taillon (if his injury had never occurred) that would be only 47.1% of the starts made by the top 5 players. And then, you can add on the injury to Ben Brown, who had become the best starter for the Cubs, you can see how 2026 is much worse than 1985 for starter injuries.
Other seasons with notable injuries: 2004 saw injuries to both Kerry Wood and Mark Prior, but they each started over 20 games, and the other 3 starters pitched in 30+ games.
Looking back over the years, there are very few instances of Cub starters losing entire seasons to major surgeries. And we’ve seen two in the last two seasons – plus a season-ending injury to a reliever (Porter Hodge) as the cherry on top.
Ultimately, if this team is able to overcome these injuries and make it to the playoffs, even as a Wild Card, it would be a pretty impressive accomplishment.
Cubs in 7 
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