Civale and Brown Are Holding the Rotation Together

I already wrote the Cabrera note on September 14th, so the move itself is logged. What's worth noting now is what's filling the space he left behind. Aaron Civale has been the quietest good story on this staff — a 1.03 ERA over 13 games while everyone around him has been either hurt or struggling. In a rotation where Taillon posted a 7.25 ERA and Cabrera's 6.16 made his bullpen shift inevitable, Civale has simply been reliable.

Ben Brown is the other name to watch, even though he's currently on the 60-day IL. His innings load had spiked sharply over his last five appearances before he went down — the Cubs were clearly leaning on him as the rotation thinned. Whether he's back before the 17 games are up is the question the coaching staff isn't answering publicly.

Imanaga and Assad remain the anchors. Boyd is serviceable. Beyond that, the Cubs are patching. With 12 players on the injured list and the offense scoring nearly two fewer runs per game than it was a month ago, the margin for a bad start has essentially vanished. Civale keeping his number where it is matters more than it would in July.