As expected, the Chicago Cubs have made a roster move before tonight’s game, activating this evening’s starting pitcher, Matthew Boyd, while making room for him on the roster by way of sending Luke Little back to Iowa.
Sorry, Luke. Such is the life of an optionable reliever (especially a left-handed reliever on a team with five left-handed relievers before this: Little, Riley Martin, Hoby Milner, Ryan Rolison, and Caleb Thielbar).
And welcome back, Matt!
Cubs send LHP Luke Little to Triple A and activate Matt Boyd off of the IL.Boyd starts tonight.
— Bruce Levine (@MLBBruceLevine) April 22, 2026I’m going to cover this in the pre-gamin’ post that will publish in a minute, but it feels just as relevant here, so … here are some words on Matthew Boyd, the Cubs Opening Day starter returning to action tonight:
Matthew Boyd has had an odd start to the year. His first game, against the Nats on Opening Day, featured a ton of hits and runs and was just generally disappointing. On the surface.
But under the hood, he actually had a lot of good things going for him, including seven strikeouts and 20(!) whiffs.
And then, in his next start (against the Angels on April 1), the results were much better: 5.2 IP, 2H, 1ER, 2BB, 10K). Plus, he got ANOTHER 20 whiffs, this time amounting to double-digit strikeouts.
So moving forward from there, given all the swing and miss, we felt like he was in a pretty good place to contribute meaningfully all season … and then he got hurt.
Five days after that second start, Boyd hit the Injured List with a left bicep strain, and Javier Assad came up to replace him. The mood from the organization was optimistic, and the timeline was expected to be short (and it was), but that definitely changes the flavor of his season.
Remember, before last year, when he made 31 starts in the regular season + 3 more in the playoffs, Boyd hadn’t thrown a full season since 2019. In fact, his 31 starts last year were more than the previous three seasons COMBINED.
But because we didn’t experience that first-hand last year, I don’t know how much we are all really prepared for how unavailable he might be this season. That doesn’t mean he’s destined for season-ending injuries at every turn, but the Cubs might be more aggressive than usual in putting him on the IL, like they were in early April. That will be in part to make sure he is available throughout the season, but mostly so that he’s not fatigued come October like he was last year. And that’s triple important now that Cade Horton is done for the season.
But the good news, at least for tonight, is that Matthew Boyd is a lefty and the Phillies have been, so far, the worst offense in baseball facing left-handed pitching. So maybe there’ll be a bit of a soft landing for him as he re-enters the Cubs rotation long-term.
***
As for Luke Little, you know the drill. He’s a big lefty with a lot of projection, but just can’t seem to get over the hump. And like I said, this roster is lousy with lefties as is. So it makes a lot of sense that he’s the one to go down.
Hence then, the article about luke little is the sacrificial lamb for the cubs to activate matthew boyd was published today ( ) and is available on Bleacher Nation ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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