Cubs embarrassing season reaches new low with dumbest injury yet

As the Chicago Cubs go for their first series win in quite some time on Sunday afternoon, they were dealt an embarrassing blow prior to first pitch. Chicago has underachieved in 2024 to say the least, especially after signing Craig Counsell to the richest managerial contract in MLB history. The Cubs also brought back Cody Bellinger, traded for Michael Busch, signed Shota Imanaga, Hector Neris and more.

41-49 doesn't begin to encapsulate how bad the last couple months have been for the Cubs. A series against the Angels was meant to be a brief reprieve from the gauntlet that is their schedule prior to the All-Star Break. Chicago was swept by the Brewers and Phillies -- two likely playoff teams -- prior to the Angels series, and face the AL East-leading Baltimore Orioles next. Good luck!

As the Cubs choose whether to buy or sell prior to the MLB trade deadline, perhaps Colten Brewer made their decision a little easier on Sunday. Brewer broke his hand after punching a wall when he was removed from Chicago's loss to the Angels on Saturday.

Colten Brewer's embarrassing injury sums up Cubs season

Brewer's ERA ballooned to 5.66 on Saturday after he gave up a run on three hits in less than an inning pitched. His IL stint won't be a major absence for a Cubs bullpen that has struggled at times this season.

Per Jon Morosi, the Cubs will call up Hunter Bigge in hopes that he can help this group right this ship. Bigge, a Harvard alum, had a 0.77 ERA in Triple-A Iowa. Walks are a major concern for Bigge as he adjusts to major-league hitters, as he walked 14 percent of batters faced in Iowa.

The Cubs have the 19th-best ERA in MLB as of this writing, and much of that can be blamed on a lack of defined roles. This isn't to pin the issue to Counsell alone, as the Cubs manager is doing the best he can to mix and match. Whether it be injuries to Luke Little and Yency Almonte, struggles from their closer Neris, or needing to move Kyle Hendricks back to the starting rotation, the Cubs bullpen has a lot of moving pieces.

Will Cubs sell at the trade deadline?

The Cubs front office has been intently watching the club the last few weeks, hoping for a turnaround that has yet to come. In Bob Nightengale's recent notes column, he suggested opposing clubs believe Chicago will eventually relent and sell off some of their top rentals, at the very least:

"The Cubs are telling teams they still remain undecided whether they will be sellers at the trade deadline, but are preparing for a potential sale, with Bellinger, Jameson Taillon and Nico Hoerner expected to draw interest. It’s hard to believe how things went south on the Northside after their 17-9 start," Nightengale wrote.

Incidents like the injury to Brewer don't exactly spark confidence that the current club makeup is good enough to contend.