The Cubs placed Matthew Boyd on the 15-day injured list Wednesday with a left biceps strain and recalled Javier Assad from Triple A to take his spot in the rotation. Boyd’s move was retroactive to April 3, and Assad was scheduled to start Tuesday night against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Boyd said there is no pain right now, but the timing of the setback leaves the Cubs managing another hole in a rotation that has already taken a hit. Craig Counsell called it a minor issue and said the expectation is that Boyd will return when eligible to be activated on April 18 against the New York Mets.
The loss comes after the Cubs also sidelined Cade Horton with a right forearm strain, leaving the club short of starting options just four days into this stretch. Assad gives them a familiar arm with big-league experience, carrying a 3.43 ERA in 331 big-league innings, and he arrives as the Cubs try to avoid overworking a bullpen that was already taxed after Horton exited a start in the second inning on Friday and the team played a doubleheader on Sunday.
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Boyd is in the second year of a two-year deal and has long dealt with injuries, but he came off an All-Star season and had been expected to anchor the group. He said, “Frankly, given a different time of the season, we’d just take the ball and keep going,” a line that fits the reality of April, when clubs often choose caution over urgency. The Cubs are treating the issue that way, but they are also asking Assad to cover innings they had not planned to need yet.
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That is the balance for Chicago now: protect Boyd, cover for Horton, and get through the schedule without turning a thin rotation into a bullpen problem.
