The Cubs are in for his or her second bullpen recreation in as many days Sunday, as Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune was amongst these to relay that left-hander Jordan Wicks has been scratched from his scheduled begin tomorrow because of forearm tightness. Proper-hander Hayden Wesneski will begin the sport in Wicks’s place simply three days after pitching 2 1/3 scoreless frames towards the Astros Thursday afternoon.
It’s not at present clear how severe Wicks’ damage is or if a stint on the injured checklist might be required, however a prolonged absence could be a serious blow to the Cubs. The membership’s first-round decide within the 2021 draft, Wicks has pitched solidly for the Cubs by means of 5 begins this season, posting a roughly league common 4.70 ERA and a a lot stronger 3.25 FIP in 23 innings of labor. An journey to the shelf for Wicks would additional exacerbate Chicago’s early-season damage woes. Hurlers Justin Steele, Kyle Hendricks, Drew Smyly and Julian Merryweather are all at present on the injured checklist (although the previous could also be again quickly) whereas the positional corps has misplaced each Seiya Suzuki and Cody Bellinger from its outfield combine.
The laundry checklist of accidents has left the Cubs considerably skinny by way of rotation choices, with each Ben Brown and now Wesneski stepping in to make begins after beforehand pitching out of the bullpen for the massive league membership. Chicago signed veteran right-hander Julio Teheran to a minor league deal in earlier this month, and the 33-year-old righty and lefty Thomas Pannone among the many membership’s high non-roster depth choices for the rotation.
Extra from the NL Central…
Brewers right-hander Jakob Junis suffered a scary incident earlier this week when he was struck by an errant fly ball through the membership’s pregame exercises previous to a recreation towards the Pirates in Pittsburgh. Luckily, Junis is again touring with the crew and spoke to Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel Friday. The correct-hander famous that he underwent an MRI and CT scan, each of which got here again clear, earlier than he was launched from the hospital. Now that he’s again with the crew, it seems Junis is about to proceed rehabbing from the shoulder impingement that has value him a lot of the season thus far. Per MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy, Brewers supervisor Pat Murphy lately indicated that the membership could look to deliver Junis again into the fold as a reliever somewhat than construct him as much as begin. It’s one thing of a shock given the current accidents suffered by lefties DL Corridor and Wade Miley, although it’s potential {that a} multi-inning aid position may permit the Brewers to maximise Junis’s innings within the brief time period.
Cardinals outfielder Dylan Carlson has missed the complete season thus far after struggling a sprained AC joint AC joint in his left shoulder simply earlier than Opening Day. Luckily, nevertheless, it seems that the 25-year-old may very well be nearing his season debut. Based on MLB.com’s Damage Tracker, Carlson is about to start a rehab task within the close to future if he comes out of a hitting session in the present day pain-free. The return of Carlson could be most welcome for St. Louis, because the membership lately optioned struggling teenager Jordan Walker to the minor leagues. With Carlson and Tommy Edman each on the injured checklist, that’s left the membership to depend on Michael Siani and Alec Burleson as main contributors to the outfield combine alongside Lars Nootbaar and Brendan Donovan.
