MIAMI -- When the Cubs added Wade Miley last November, the major sentiment was that the southpaw would bolster the rotation in a big way to help Chicago compete.

Instead, Miley suffered through a season of injuries -- Monday’s 10-3 loss to the Marlins at loanDepot park marked just his seventh start of the season and his third since coming off the 60-day injured list on Sept. 6 -- and the Cubs have long been assured of their second consecutive losing season. The last time Chicago had a losing record during back-to-back seasons was when it finished below .500 for five years in a row from 2010-14.

As the 2022 campaign comes to an end, Miley’s future with the club is uncertain. He’ll likely make at least two more starts, hoping to go out on a high note before hitting the free agent market. On Monday, it was Miley’s command that was struggling. He allowed seven runs (three earned) on seven hits and two walks. And he only recorded two strikeouts.

“I didn't feel too bad,” Miley said, “just didn't execute pitches -- couldn't get the ball in glove-side at all. I was fighting that the whole time, and then they made an adjustment and kind of gave up on that pitch and just started diving out over [the plate]. I didn't have any way to combat it.”

The pitch that sank Miley was a changeup in the third inning that didn’t break enough. With a 3-1 count against Bryan De La Cruz, who Miley struck out in his first at-bat, the left-hander unleashed an 82.7 mph changeup down and away that got De La Cruz swinging. Miley tried to go to the pitch again, but he wasn’t able to locate the changeup and instead De La Cruz drove the 83.2 mph offering deep for a grand slam.

“I was trying to go down and away, kind of similar to the 3-1 [pitch], and I just threw a pie up there and he smoked it,” Miley said.

The Cubs had been ahead 2-0 entering the bottom of the third, in part thanks to a solo homer from Christopher Morel. Even after Jon Berti went yard with one out to cut into Chicago’s lead, Miami still trailed by one run. But Miley wasn’t in it. Because he was fighting with his command, the southpaw wasn’t able to work out of jams. That made all the difference.

“[His] stuff was not quite as sharp, not throwing it where he wants to,” Cubs manager David Ross said, “not being able to get out of a jam, make a mistake behind him, you know with the throwing error from Morel and not being able to pick up his teammates, it just didn't [seem] like he had his best stuff tonight.”

Miley is still putting in the work and grinding through the final weeks of the season, as is the rest of the team. The hope now is for the 35-year-old to finish the year healthy. That’s the hope for the entirety of the club, actually.

“With the history of how he’s been going, we want to be very cautious. He’s working as hard as you can on a start-to-start basis,” Ross said, “and [he] wanted to make those starts, and we’re supporting him in that. Also, he’s allowed to have a bad outing, too.”

Regardless of the numbers, though, Miley’s impact on the younger group of Chicago arms (Miley is a decade older than five of the pitchers on the Cubs’ active roster) has been undeniable, according to Ross, who said that the veteran “affects everyone in a positive way.”

And it’s those arms that will propel the Cubs into the future. Justin Steele and Keegan Thompson are both future mainstays for Chicago. Both are on the 15-day IL, though Thompson is likely to return within the coming days. Meanwhile, Adbert Alzolay could join the rotation once fully healthy next season, and Hayden Wesneski impressed over the weekend in his first Major League start.

“[Wade] impacts everybody,” Ross said pregame. “He impacts our clubhouse guys -- that's the kind of human he is. He interacts with everybody in a positive way. So [he’s] definitely impacted me and the rest of the coaching staff as well.”