3 Takeaways After Edward Cabrera Exits Early in Cubs' 5-2 Loss to Rockies

Despite another leadoff home run from Pete Crow-Armstrong, the Cubs were unable to find the same magic as Monday night's walk-off winner, losing 5-2 to the Rockies Tuesday night.

The Chicago Cubs (38-36) took an early 2-0 lead with Edward Cabrera not allowing a hit his first time through the order. But three straight hits from the Colorado Rockies (28-46), and it was 3-2 in favor of the away team. Colorado would add two more runs in the 5th on a Ryan Rolison wild pitch before Willi Castro grounded out to make it 5-2 Rockies.

Cabrera would also exit this game early, dealing with an apparent hand cramp in the 5th inning after issuing two walks and striking out Edouard Julien before Rolison replaced him, more on the Cubs righty later. Overall, not a great night for the Cubs, who will try to win the series Wednesday night before welcoming in the Toronto Blue Jays.

Nevertheless, here are three things that stood out from tonight's disappointing loss.

Another day, another leadoff home run for PCA

Jun 16, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong (4) gestures after hitting a home run against the Colorado Rockies during the first inning at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images | David Banks-Imagn Images

Pete Crow-Armstrong started the game off with a leadoff home run for the second consecutive day and for the third time in his last four games. During his 19-game on base streak, which he extended today with his dinger, PCA has a 1.252 OPS with 16 extra-base hits, including 7 home runs.

THIS IS YOUR REMINDER TO VOTE PCA.

⭐️: https://t.co/hFFdpa6mDR pic.twitter.com/6OUqC5zYgm
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) June 17, 2026

Crow-Armstrong has been incredible since Craig Counsell moved him to the leadoff spot in the lineup, slugging .773 with a 229 wRC+. Sadly, Crow-Armstrong couldn't provide more offense for the Cubs, who finished the night with 7 total hits (6 coming off the starter Ryan Feltner).

PCA now has 14 home runs on the season and is one night removed from hitting for the cycle. He's currently one of the hottest hitters in baseball.

Cabrera exits with hand cramp

Jun 11, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Edward Cabrera (30) in the dugout during the game against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Edward Cabrera was having a solid night through three innings of work, but he ran into trouble in the 4th. Cabrera allowed a single to Jake McCarthy and then a double to Willi Castro, giving the Rockies their first run of the game. Then, TJ Rumfield would come up and hit a go-ahead 2-run home run. The game went from Cabrera no-hitting the Rockies to down 3-2 in 3 batters, but Cabrera would regain his composure and limit the damage from there.

While Cabrera would come back out in the 5th, after two walks and a strikeout, he left with Cubs trainer Nick Frangella with what the Cubs eventually said was a hand cramp. Craig Counsell spoke to the media after the game, saying tests on Cabera's hand came back clean and negative.

"All things considered, he's good. It's a cramp right now as far as we can tell. All the other tests are clean and negative as of now."

Craig Counsell provides an update on Edward Cabrera. pic.twitter.com/IT17lG8TFh
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) June 17, 2026

Cabrera had just returned from the IL after dealing with a blister back on May 24th, and while his velocity didn't drop as it did for Cabrera in that start, his sudden lack of command in the 4th inning was a concern. The Cubs really need their rotation to start getting healthy and become the unit the team envisioned leaning on by this point in the season.

Bregman and the Cubs struggles with RISP

May 26, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Chicago Cubs third baseman Alex Bregman (3) looks on from the dugout before the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

The Cubs went 0-8 with runners in scoring position tonight, leaving another 9 runners on base to bring their total to 593 on the year. Coming into tonight's game, the Cubs had a .677 OPS in RISP situations, as the team just can't find ways to come through with hits in key moments.

One of the Cubs bats struggling the most with runners on base is Alex Bregman, whose OPS drops from .817 to .572 with runners on base. And his OPS drops even further when runners are in scoring position (.483), as Bregman has only two extra-base hits in RISP moments this year.

Brendan Miller of CHGO compiled a video of Bregman's team-leading 70 outs with runners in scoring position. It's terrible but shows just how bad the Cubs 3rd highest-paid player has been this year.

Alex Bregman has a team-leading 70 outs with runners in scoring position. Nearly half were strikeouts (19) or pop-ups (14). For perspective, Joey Votto didn't hit a pop-up in 2010. It took him 6,289 plate appearances to pop up to 1B.

Watch for yourself at your own risk. pic.twitter.com/evO0f3nDVz
— Brendan Miller (@brendan_cubs) June 17, 2026

It's not just Bregman struggling, though. Dansby Swanson was pinch-hit for by Pedro Ramirez in the bottom of the 9th. He's batting .175 on the season and has just 6 hits total with runners in scoring position. Nico Hoerner was batting .297 after the first month of the year, but has batted .192 since and is also struggling with runners in scoring position (.227).

Despite the poor results today, the Cubs still have a chance to take the series tomorrow night. Javier Assad will take the bump opposite Sean Sullivan for the Rockies at 7:05 pm.

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