Shades of '85? Cubs' fractured rotation puts another promising season in peril

The Cubs overcame early season injuries to starters Justin Steele (season-ending elbow surgery) and Shota Imanaga (out seven weeks with a bum hamstring) to make the playoffs in 2025 and set themselves up to take a big step toward World Series contention in 2026. But already, their starting rotation injury issues are getting worse instead of better, leaving otherwise hopeful Cubs fans to wonder what's next.

Starter Matthew Boyd, whose career-best season helped bail out the Cubs after losing Steele and Shota last season, is out indefinitely after suffering a meniscus injury playing with his kids. Cade Horton, whose impressive rookie season (11-4, 2.67) played an even bigger role in that 2025 bailout, is out for this season and likely most of 2027 after undergoing Tommy John surgery. And Steele's anticipated May/June return has already been delayed by a setback and now is (tentatively) scheduled for after the All-Star break. For now, anyway.

That leaves the Cubs, who are 24-12 and leading the NL Central by 2 1/2 games after winning 17 of their last 20, without three of their expected top five starters for 2026 — and it's only May 6.

But it could be worse, and it has been. The 2026 Cubs can only hope this is the end of their injury issues and not the beginning — a fate that short-circuited an even more promising Cubs season in 1985. The Cubs had won the NL East in 1984 (breaking a 39-year postseason drought) and were off to a 21-11 start when they lost their top two starters in May — one to a hamstring injury (Rick Sutcliffe), the other to an elbow injury (Steve Trout).

With Dennis Eckersley, Scott Sanderson and veteran Dick Ruthven filling out the rotation, that could have been survivable if Sutcliffe and Trout eventually returned, which they did. Unfortunately, it was just the beginning of the rotation's injury jinx. Eckersley went down with arm soreness in June. Sanderson missed two starts with a back injury. Ruthven suffered a broken toe when he was hit by a line drive off the bat of Keith Hernandez.

By mid-August, the entire Cubs starting rotation was on the disabled list — Sutcliffe (leg), Trout (elbow), Eckersley (right shoulder tendinitis), Sanderson (MCL tear) and Ruthven (broken toe). The Cubs had to move Trout from the 15-day DL to the 21-day DL just to make room for Eckersley.

On June 12, 1985, the Cubs were in first place in the NL East and their starting pitching staff — Sutcliffe, Trout, Sanderson, Eckersley and Ruthven was among the best in baseball.

It was a death blow to a team that was 34-19 with a 3 1/2-game lead in the NL East on June 12. The starting rotation was a combined 25-13 with a 2.34 ERA — Sutcliffe (6-4, 2.04), Trout (6-1, 1.79), Sanderson (3-1, 2.14), Eckersley (7-3, 2.57) and Ruthven (3-4, 3.38).

In a span of six weeks, the Cubs' rotation went from Sutcliffe-Trout-Sanderson-Eckersley-Ruthven to Ray Fontenot-Steve Engel-Derek Botelho-Lary Sorensen-Jay Baller.

When starters Dennis Eckersley and Dick Ruthven were put on the 15-day disabled list in August, Steve Trout had to be moved from the 15-day DL to the 21-day DL to make room for them.

On Aug. 16, 1985, all five Cubs starters were on the disabled list. It's worth noting that the top four starters — Rick Sutcliffe, Steve Trout, Dennis Eckersley and Scott Sanderson — averaged 6 2/3 innings per start.

There was no Cade Horton on the horizon in those days. Engel (a 1983 fifth-round draft pick) and Botelho (acquired from the Phillies in the Manny Trillo trade) were the Class AAA call-ups. Greg Maddux, the Cubs' second-round pick in 1984 (No. 31 overall) was in his first full season in the minors — 13-9 with a 3.19 ERA at Class A Peoria (though he would make his big-league debut the following September). Drew Hall, the Cubs' first-round pick in 1984 (No. 3 overall) was still figuring it out at Class A Winston-Salem. Jamie Moyer, the Cubs' sixth-round pick in 1984, was promoted from Winston-Salem to Class AA Pittsfield, but still a year away from his big-league debut in 1986).

And by that time, the Cubs were already headed downhill. They lost 13 consecutive games in June to fall from 3 1/2 games up in the NL East to fourth place, 5 games behind. And that was with the starting rotation almost intact. With all of them on the disabled list, the Cubs had no chance. The Cubs went 23-37 in the final two months of the 1985 season to finish 77-84, in fourth place in the NL East, 23 1/2 games behind the Cardinals.

Even before the 1985 Cubs rotation was decimated, the wheels were coming off — they lost 13 consecutive games from June 12-25, with most of the starting staff intact, though not necessarily 100 percent healthy.

This is the kind of season it was in 1985. Dave Gumpert, a reliever called up from Class AAA because of all the pitching injuries, was injured (strained groin) while pitching for the Cubs.

The Cubs' injuries were so bad in 1985, Tribune beat writer Fred Mitchell's lead quote in August was from Cubs trainer Tony Garofalo — "Nobody got hurt today. That's one for 'Ripley's Believe It or Not.'" Well done, Fred!