It might be time for Cubs to start 'freaking out'

The Chicago Cubs aren't alone in their issues in the early seeing, but right now, they've got one of the worst sets of pitching injuries in the league.

MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince wrote in a new article on Saturday that it might be time to start "freaking out."

Castrovince came up with a "freak out factor" -- and for the Cubs, he ranked it as a 7.3-out-of-10.

Cade Horton is out now. Justin Steele is still out for a while. Matthew Boyd is missing, too.

"Removing (Horton) from the Cubs’ rotation after an April 3 right elbow injury that required season-ending surgery is a damaging blow to a Chicago team that added some juice to its rotation in the form of Edward Cabrera but nevertheless has depth questions," Castrovince writes. "The Cubs are also being tested early by a left biceps issue for 2025 All-Star Matthew Boyd."

MORE: Yankees outfielder once battled ostrich in 11-plate spaghetti-eating contest

Cabrera has been good so far, but he'll need to keep that up.

"Cabrera went from a big X-factor to a gigantic one now," Castrovince writes. "He’s off to a truly fantastic start, with a spotless ERA in 11 2/3 innings in which he’s struck out nine and allowed two hits and six walks, entering Saturday’s start against Pittsburgh. The walks are a small window into the control problems that prevented Cabrera from reaching his ceiling with the Marlins, though the bigger issue has been his history of injury troubles. Needless to say, the Cubs need him to stay healthy all the more now that Horton is out of the picture."

MORE: Aaron Judge's case as the greatest right-handed hitter of all time

Castrovince is already expecting the Cubs to have to be buyers of pitching when the trade deadline rolls around this summer.

"Though Justin Steele is expected back from UCL surgery in the first half, the Cubs have all the makings of a club that will need some external help between now and the Trade Deadline to be a viable World Series contender," Castrovince writes. "And because that’s hard to do, our scale is freaking out about them a little bit."

Fans at Wrigley Field will be supportive all the way. They'll just have to hope the rest of the roster stays healthy enough to give them something to keep supporting.

More MLB news:

• Explaining the absurdity of 2 MLB players named Max Muncy
• He almost retired, but instead he hit his first grand slam
• White Sox are holding a Pope Leo XIV promotion
• This slider is really good and moves the entirely wrong direction
• These Mason Miller stats can't possibly be human