The Cubs were the toast of the NL Central a couple weeks ago. Now they're sitting at 29-22, watching Milwaukee pull away, and trying to remember which end of the bat to hold. Friday's 4-2 loss was the 6th straight — they went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position, which is the kind of stat line that makes Craig Counsell stare into the middle distance.
Houston, meanwhile, is 21-31 and held together with athletic tape, but they keep punching. Altuve (oblique), Correa (ankle surgery), Yainer Diaz, Hader, Hunter Brown, McCullers — the IL reads like a full Opening Day roster. And yet here they are stealing series openers on the road.
- Day-To-DayWalker Janek C — Double-A Corpus Christi placed Janek on its 7-day injured list Sunday due to an unspecified injury.
- 10-Day-ILTaylor Trammell CF — Trammell (groin) began a rehab assignment with Double-A Corpus Christi on Tuesday, going 1-for-4 with a double.
- 10-Day-ILJose Altuve 2B — The Astros placed Altuve on the 10-day injured list Monday with a left oblique strain.
- 10-Day-ILCarlos Correa SS — Correa is scheduled to undergo surgery Monday in Houston to repair the tendon in his left ankle, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.
- 10-Day-ILJoey Loperfido LF — The Astros announced Monday that Loperfido (quadriceps) has started light running and light baseball activity, Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle reports.
- 10-Day-ILYainer Diaz C — The Astros placed Diaz (oblique) on the 10-day injured list Tuesday, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.
- 15-Day-ILLance McCullers Jr. SP — McCullers was scratched from his scheduled start against the Twins on Tuesday due to shoulder inflammation, Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle reports.
- 15-Day-ILBennett Sousa RP — The Astros placed Sousa on the 15-day injured list Saturday with left elbow inflammation, retroactive to Wednesday, Julia Morales of Space City Home Network reports.
- Day-To-DayEdward Cabrera SP — Cabrera didn't factor into the decision in Friday's 10-5 victory over the White Sox, giving up three earned runs on three hits and three walks while striking out two batters in 4.2 innings.
- Day-To-DayBrandon Birdsell RP — Birdsell (elbow) will miss the entire 2026 season, Jim Callis of MLB Pipeline reports.
- Day-To-DayJeff Brigham RP — Brigham was placed on the 7-day injured list at Triple-A St. Paul, retroactive to April 6, with a left oblique strain, TwinsDaily.com reports.
- Day-To-DayJaxon Wiggins SP — Cubs manager Craig Counsell said that Wiggins was placed on Triple-A Iowa's 7-day injured list Wednesday due to right elbow inflammation, Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune reports.
- 10-Day-ILMatt Shaw RF — Shaw went 3-for-4 with a double, a solo home run and an additional run scored in Wednesday's 5-4 win over the Padres.
- 15-Day-ILMatthew Boyd SP — Boyd (knee) is scheduled to throw off a mound Saturday and is on track for a full bullpen session next week, Tony Andracki of Marquee Sports Network reports.
- 15-Day-ILRiley Martin RP — Martin has been diagnosed with flexor strain in his left elbow and is expected to miss eight weeks, Taylor McGregor of Marquee Sports Network reports.
- 60-Day-ILHunter Harvey RP — The Cubs moved Harvey (triceps) from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL on Sunday.
The matchup card above tells the story. Kai-Wei Teng (2-3, 2.61) is the guy nobody outside Houston was talking about a month ago, and he just spun 5 scoreless against the Rangers with 7 punchouts. Joe Espada has officially folded him into a 6-man rotation. Colin Rea (4-2, 4.98) is what he is — a strike-throwing veteran who lets you put it in play and hopes the Wrigley wind cooperates. With a Cubs lineup ice-cold and an Astros pitcher trending up, the under at 7 (DK) / 7.5 (Pinnacle) makes some sense on paper.
The market still likes the Cubs as a healthy -148 home favorite, and the DK splits show 71% of bets on Chicago — public is buying the bounce-back. EV is negative across the board though, so the sharps aren't exactly running to the window.
First pitch is 1:20 PM CT at Wrigley. If PCA and Busch can't get something going against a guy throwing 63-pitch outings a couple weeks ago, the skid hits 7 and the questions about this Cubs offense get a lot louder.