Did the Cubs Mishandle Another Injured Player?

Eli Morgan has had a weird opening month to his Cubs career. Now, after a couple painful appearances by the righty, Morgan is headed to the injured list.

The 28-year-old reliever allowed back-to-back home runs against the Padres Monday night, and after giving up a third straight hit in the eighth inning to Manny Machado, Morgan was taken out of the game. Yet, it wasn't your normal pitching change as Cubs pitching coach Tommy Hottovy first came out to talk to the right-hander and then Miguel Amaya motioned toward the dugout.

Cubs manager Craig Counsell joined the meeting on the mound along with the team trainer. Morgan slowly walked off the field and after the game the Cubs confirmed that there was something wrong with the pitcher.

Per Craig Counsell, #Cubs Eli Morgan has been dealing with some right elbow issues. Roster move expected tomorrow.

— Taylor McGregor (@Taylor_McGregor) April 15, 2025

Morgan last pitched on Friday against the Dodgers. It was a scoreless one-inning outing for him, his third straight shutdown appearance since the meltdown against the Diamondbacks on March 30.

I guess the question here is, if Morgan was already experiencing issues with his pitching elbow, why wait until it got worse to make a roster move? It's not like the Cubs were relying on Morgan to pitch in high-leverage spots and were hoping he'd get better over time. He was pretty much reduced to mop-up duty since the start of the year.

You'd think that with Morgan's recent track record of arm issues that the Cubs would be a bit more cautious with him.

So, Morgan will be placed on the 15-day injured list on Tuesday. He could be one of up to three guys to be moved off the 26-man roster from the bullpen, depending on how desperate the team feels after Monday's disaster.

It's a shame that Morgan's debut season with the Cubs has started this way. He was pretty damn good the past three seasons, posting a combined 3.27 ERA across 176 innings with a 25.1 K%.

Morgan did miss time on the injured list in 2024, sidelined in April with shoulder inflammation and then had a second stint on the IL in late May because of right elbow inflammation. Still, the righty was great when healthy, ending last season with a 1.93 ERA in 42 innings of work.

Pretty good Cubs debut for Eli Morgan. 1.1 scoreless out of the bullpen. pic.twitter.com/yBr4jtREZY

— Aldo Soto (@AldoSoto21) March 18, 2025

The former pitcher for the Cleveland Guardians was traded to Chicago in the offseason in exchange for an outfield prospect. After his scoreless appearance against the Dodgers in Japan Morgan was presumably a lock to be in the bullpen for the team's first series in the US against the Diamondbacks.

However, a week before Opening Day, Morgan was reportedly optioned to Triple-A. That transaction never ended up happening as the Cubs had to place Tyson Miller and Ryan Brasier on the injured list, leaving a spot in the bullpen open for Morgan.

The right-hander has made seven relief appearances with the Cubs so far in 2025. Morgan has been great in five of those outings, allowing no runs in six combined innings with five strikeouts. But in the two blowups, Morgan hasn't been able to contain the damage and has surrendered 10 earned runs on three homers, nine hits and two walks.