State Of The Union Address

My fellow Cubs fans, it's sad that a state of the union address needs to be made on April 7th, 11 games into the season, but here we are. Things have not looked good. The offense isn't producing, the relief pitching is abysmal, they've started the season 5-6 against some very bad teams, and today we received the news that Cade Horton is done for the year.

I would be lying if the Cade news didn't affect me deeply. A young ace coming off a great 2025 season positioned to be the guy you can count on every 5 days. That feeling you had in 2016 when it was Jake Arrieta day. But after leaving the game in the 2nd inning a few days ago in tears, we get news today that Cade Horton will undergo season ending UCL surgery. This is where I began the spiral. I began thinking "should I find something else to do this Summer? Should I get really into fitness or try out jiu jitsu? Maybe I'll spend my nights reading fantasy novels." I thought about how life might be easier without baseball. Without the pain that it causes me....

But then I remembered who this team was and what we all signed up for. I signed up for 162+ games. We're 6% of the way through the season...that's the equivalent to:

• The 9 minute mark of The Dark Knight - You've seen the opening bank heist, but Batman hasn't even had his first "I'm not wearing hockey pads" conversation yet. I'm still awake at this point in the movie.

• 29 minutes into a full 8-hour night of sleep - You wouldn't judge how good you felt in the morning after that amount of time, right?

• End of the first quarter of the first game of the season in a full NFL season - The Seahawks were down 7-0 to the Niners at this point....

• Game 5 of the NBA season - The Bulls were 5-0 and I was seeing SOOO much red.

This Cubs team was specifically built for something like this. I wrote in my season preview blog "Starting pitching depth is vital to playing deep into October. That's what the Cubs have built here. They have a legit 6 man starting rotation for the first time in a decade." Cade's the last guy you want to see go down with an injury but they have the depth for that "next man up" mentality. Justin Steele should be back in 6 weeks, Colin Rea was 11-7 with a 3.95 ERA in 2025, and Javier Assad just gave them 5.2 innings of 1-hit ball. Maybe you go out and sign a guy like Lucas Giolito to give you a little extra depth in this department as well. None of these guys are Cade Horton, I get that. But that's 3 guys there that can slot into the 5 spot in this rotation and we'll lean on Edward Cabrera and Matthew Boyd as our aces.

Now as for the bats, they're ice cold (until tonight 4/7). I hate for this to be the answer but as I sit here addressing the nation, I want you all to just be patient.

Look at all that red in the comparison column. 9 guys are hitting below their career average currently and the only 2 that aren't are your catchers. This will change, I promise. We are also days away from getting Seiya Suzuki back into the lineup which should be an instant infusion of power. I will personally guarantee that Dansby Swanson, Alex Bregman, and PCA don't have a sub .550 OPS. If this happens, I'll dedicate my blog to covering the Savannah Bananas for a full season.

If you're still reading this, I guess my message to you is to strap in and ride with me for 162. It's never easy but injuries and slumps happen. I know it feels like there's no light at the end of the tunnel but I promise you that the sun will start peaking out soon. Just remember what the late great Harvey Dent said..."The night is darkest just before the dawn. And I promise you, the dawn is coming"