The Cubs pitching staff has been hammered by injuries early in the season, which has served to undercut whats been an outstanding offense. s season is already over thanks to , and right-hander has yet to pitch in 2025 due to an oblique strain. The hope had been that A sad would be able to return early next month after beginning a rehab a signment in mid-April, but he exited his most recent rehab start while clutching his side an experiencing obvious discomfort. Cubs skipper told the teams beat last night that A sad was traveling back to Chicago to be reexamined in the wake of that apparent setback ( ). Theres no further update at this time, but it seems fair to expect the renewed discomfort will push A sads 2025 debut back further than originally hoped. The 27-year-old A sad pitched a career-high 147 innings in the majors last year, starting 29 games for the Cubs and logging a solid 3.73 ERA. Hes been a productive member of the staff both in a relief and rotation capacity since his 2022 debut. Metrics like FIP (4.49) and SIERA (4.66) are far more bearish than his 3.40 ERA, due primarily to middling strikeout and walk rates of 19.8% and 9.9%. Even if theres some likely regre sion in store, however, A sad is clearly a big league-caliber arm who could hold down an important spot in the middle or at the back of Chicagos rotation. His setback likely extends right-hander s run in the rotation. The veteran swingman has proven to be an important offseason pickup thus far, to sing 13 2/3 innings and holding opponents to a pair of runs on 14 hits and a walk Karel Plasek Jersey with a dozen strikeouts. Rea has made two starts, lasting 3 2/3 innings his first time out and 4 2/3 innings in his second. He held potent Dodgers and D-backs lineups to one run in each of those starts and out to be stretched out enough to pitch five to six innings in his next appearance. The rotation has generally fared well despite those injuries (3.50 ERA), but the Cubs bullpen has been a true weak point in 2025. Chicago relievers rank 27th in the majors with a 5.17 earned run average a struggle thats compounded by the fact that the Cubs bullpen also ranks fifth in MLB with 94 innings pitched. The Cubs will only lean on their bullpen all the more heavily in the wake of a season-ending injury to top starter Justin Steele, who averaged nearly six innings per start from 2023-24. Part of the bullpens struggle has been a shaky performance from newly acquired closer . The longtime Astros hurler has a sharp-looking 2.45 ERA in his first 11 innings with the Cubs, but hes sitting on a career-worst 10.6% strikeout rate that checks in lower than his 12.8% walk rate. Thats not a sustainable recipe for succe s. Pre sly has been pitching at le s than 100% this season, however. Counsell revealed last night that Pre sly had his right knee drained yesterday and was unavailable for a save situation that arose ( ). Sophomore reliever stepped up and nailed down a victory over the Dodgers that pushed Chicagos record to 16-10 and widened their division lead to 2.5 games. Despite the ominous update on Pre slys knee, Counsell added that the team hopes the 36-year-old veteran will be available beginning with this weekends series against the Phillies. Pre sly was down yesterday, and the Cubs have an off-day today, so hell have a few days to rest that ailing knee. In addition to shaky command, Pre sly is giving up hard-contact at career-worst rates and has shown a career-low 93.3 mph average velocity on his heater. His 6.4% swinging-strike rate is the eighth-worst among the 276 MLB pitchers with at least 10 innings pitched in 2025. Pre sly isnt the only ailing Cubs reliever. Right-hander , over the winter, is already on the 15-day injured list after stumbling to a 12.27 ERA in his first seven appearances with his new team. Hed originally been diagnosed with an elbow impingement, but Counsell revealed last night (via Bastian) that Morgan wont throw at all for two to three weeks due to an inflamed ulnar nerve in his right arm. Theres no indication right now that surgery is a consideration, but several players (e.g. , ) have ultimately required an operation when dealing with ulnar neuritis in the past. Morgan, 28, had a nice run with Cleveland from 2022-24, pitching 176 innings with a 3.27 ERA, a 25.1% strikeout rate and a 6.6% walk rate. His strikeout rate dipped considerably in 2024, however, and he spent time on the injured list due to both shoulder and elbow inflammation. Hell be reevaluated after this shutdown period, but for the time being theres no concrete timetable on when he might be able to return. Matt Grzelcyk Jersey