AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh

The Rundown: Underwhelming Cubs Lose Again, Pitching Injuries Mounting, Soccer Fans Take Over Yankee Stadium

Photo of Michael Canter Michael CanterJune 17, 2026

“It’s gonna take a lot to drag me away from you. There’s nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do.” – Africa by Toto

I rarely devote a column to a reader’s comment on a previous entry, but today I am going to make an exception. That makes it seem like I am singling one person out, but that’s not really the case here. The comment is a facetious one I often see on social media, and at a high level, it is correct to say it.

“Damn Jed Hoyer for making everybody injure themselves, and/or not being able to hit.”

Jed doesn’t play and he’s not a doctor or trainer, so he can mark himself safe from both. Is that accurate, though?

The problem isn’t just who Hoyer signed, it’s who he hasn’t. It’s also the staff he has in place, specifically the pitching infrastructure. Hoyer’s model-aided decision-making process seeks market inefficiencies that include streaky hitters or players with injury histories (they’re cheaper and theoretically have higher value ceilings). Ol’ Jed clings to those algorithms like they’re the diamonds from the Titanic. 

The Cubs are doing something horrifically wrong on that front. The number of injuries is significant, but the number of re-injuries is unfathomable. As far as hitters go, it’s the same thing. What are they trying to correct when they exploit inefficiencies, and why do they continue to fail to do so? Most organizations rarely suffer through team-wide slumps. The Cubs have gone through multiple instances in each season under Hoyer’s stewardship.

Baseball is all about production. Injured players cannot produce, and players prone to injuries often lack consistency to play at elite levels. The Cubs may not have a POBO problem, but he is the executive in charge of employing all non-playing staff members. His choices in coaches and trainers leave something to be desired, considering the team’s high number of injured pitchers and its inability to avoid lengthy runs of offensive ineptitude. Both border on historical. Chicago only wins when it gets decent pitching and when one offensive hero carries the team, be it Pete Crow-Armstrong, Nico Hoerner, Michael Busch, or Ian Happ. 

That is not how World Series contenders are built, and Hoyer’s overdependence on modeling has bit him in the ass on several occasions:

  1. Kyle Schwarber was cast from the organization as a non-tender, with Chicago getting nothing in return.
  2. High-floor/low-ceiling players like Alex Bregman and Dansby Swanson are unable to carry the club despite getting paid at a level commensurate with players on other teams who can. Hoyer’s high-floor gambles have become burdens, especially when tied to full no-trade clauses. Swanson has the lowest batting average by any Cub with 265 or more plate appearances since 1901. That’s a nice way to earn $28 million.
  3. The Cubs use a similar strategy when drafting players and the results aren’t any different. Most of the organization’s prospects excel through Triple-A before struggling in the majors. When was the last time the Cubs had a hitting prospect destined to be a star? Kris Bryant is probably the correct answer, though I do have faith in Moisés Ballesteros.
  4. The general failure to establish a deep internal pitching pipeline.
  5. The refusal to pay to add a frontline starter.
  6. Failure to add an established middle-of-the-order bat.
  7. Overreliance on defensive runs saved.

Hoyer doesn’t deserve all of the blame, but he is the steward of a modeling algorithm that doesn’t seem to be working as well as expected. Craig Breslow deserves some of our wrath, too, as I mentioned in yesterday’s column. An Ivy League degree in molecular biophysics and biochemistry hardly qualifies an individual to make baseball decisions. Hoyer is also responsible for entrusting Breslow to overhaul the pitching infrastructure that remains in place. Chicago’s pitchers miss more time due to injuries than commercial fishermen. That’s bound to happen when prior injury history is overlooked in the name of savings.

So yeah…”damn that Jed.” All he did was build this roster and hire the coaches, scouts, and executives entrusted to prevent the very issues the Cubs have.

Cubs News & Notes

Ball Four

As I understand it, a baseball game cannot be won when you fail to score, no matter how many runs you save.

Central Intelligence

How About That!

Scotland soccer fans, known as the Tartan Army, took in a Yankees game during a break in World Cup action.

Phillies legends Larry Bowa and Shane Victorino will manage this year’s Futures Game during All-Star week.

The Brewers and Guardians are proof that small-market teams can win consistently by making solid baseball decisions.

Tarik Skubal tops the list of players most likely to be traded this season. Joe Ryan is listed as the best fit for the Cubs.

Three cast members of the movie Napoleon Dynamite bought shares in the Richmond Flying Mummies of the Northwoods League.

Extra Innings

You can’t stop Pete. You can only hope to contain him.

They Said It

  • “We went into the season feeling like we had real numbers. Injuries are part of the game. They’re part of the challenge. Some seasons, you maybe skate through a little bit. And some seasons, you don’t. We haven’t. But we have to fight through it and find different ways and be creative.” – Hoyer

Wednesday Walk-Up Song

Another loss to a substandard team. Hold me, please.

Photo of Michael Canter Michael CanterJune 17, 2026
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