It has been known for some time that Cubs closer Brandon Morrow would likely not be ready for the start of the season, but his precise timeline has been tough to guess. As MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian was among those to tweet, there’s now a clear target date for Morrow to throw his first pen session: March 25th.
Morrow dealt with a biceps injury last season and underwent offseason surgery on his elbow. The current rehab plan seems to be for Morrow to continue building up strength and testing his powerful right arm over the next several weeks. So long as he tolerates further increases in his long-toss program, he’ll get back on the bump near the end of the month.
Even if Morrow toes the rubber on the 25th, it’ll still leave several steps left before he’s ready for competitive action. From that point, he’d need to regain the feel for his arsenal, step in against live hitters, and progress to some sort of game-like action before potentially undertaking a rehab assignment in lieu of the Spring Training contests he’ll have missed.
The broader timeline remains foggy and obviously depends quite a bit on how Morrow comes through each forthcoming test. His bullpen mates reported to camp on February 13th; by that measure, at least, he’ll be something like five or six weeks behind schedule. Of course, Morrow has been ramping up for duty in other ways and has previously indicated he anticipates missing about a month of action.
It remains to be seen how quickly Morrow will move once he nears readiness. By that point, the Cubs will already have quite a bit more information than they do now about their immediate roster needs. Regardless, the club will surely weigh heavily the knowledge of Morrow’s long and short-term health history.
This time last year, Morrow was ramping up for a highly successful first half of the 2018 season — his first on a two-year, $21MM contract that brought him to Chicago. That he was in position to sign that deal was in itself quite notable, given that Morrow had only just revived his injury-wracked career. After 30 2/3 innings of 1.47 ERA pitching, though, Morrow hit the DL with what seemed like a minor issue. He never made it back, with the team shutting him down in mid-September after hope of a late-season return faded.
Entering the winter, the Cubs made clear they would keep Morrow penciled in as their primary closer. But his outlook was downgraded again when he ended up requiring an elbow debridement procedure in early November. With little free payroll to allocate in free agency, the Cubs never pursued a true replacement, though they did add a hurler who has late-inning experience. Brad Brach joins Pedro Strop, Steve Cishek, and Brandon Kintzler as Chicago relievers with at least twenty MLB saves.
Cubs will be lucky to get 29 innings out of this cupcake this season. What a horrible sign by Theo. Guys been injured more than healthy over the course of his career.
He’s tremendous when healthy. Sucks to see. Really think he could’ve been a good SP if the injuries didn’t derail him.
U see with SP history? Since coming back RP hes had a much better career.
I said it before, I will say it again: CRAIG KIMBREL!
Morrow, cisheck, strop, kintzler, duensing all gone after this year. Agree on kimbrel.
I’ll add another angle not discussed in an earlier debate regarding Kimbrel: I lack faith in Joe Maddon’s ability to manage the Cubs bullpen. I trust him even less with no proven closer or one that might be utilized by committee.
Cubs have already stated they won’t spend. Cishek has closed out quite a few games before. Strop has also. Kimbrel would look good down there but they added brach to that mix as well. And they have Carl Edwards Jr. that’s four good relievers before you consider the return of morrow. What the cubs really need is a good left hander. That’s where they’re weak.
I see this season as THE opportunity for Edwards to step up and establish consistent effectiveness. We’ve seen him at his best and worst (sometimes in consecutive games), and now is the time he needs to clear up the uncertainty in the pen and claim the closer role.
Admire your optimism but I go the other way. Joe’s relief corps will be he throws pasta at the wall and sees what sticks. And there will be a lot of pasta thrown.
This observation is not stat based. It’s “eye test” only and I’m just a fan, not a professional evaluator of baseball talent. Maybe statistical analysis would prove that I’m wrong. That’s fine. My eye test observation is the Edwards does really well if he enters the game up 3+. Those are the games when he blows hitters away and puts up great numbers. In close out situations, he’s wild – overthrows and can’t find the zone with his fastball. After he walks the world and gets himself into a jam, he grooves a batting practice, get-me-over fastball or hangs a slider and chaos ensues. He’s had opportunities to become the dominant 9th inning guy before and gagged on the chances. I agree that this is another chance for him to step up, but if he spits the bit again, then the Cubs are back to inconsistency at the end.
Depends on what he’s asking for, which presumably is a fortune given that he’s still unsigned. I trust some of our young arms coming up could handle it
Best Cubs can hope for here is a pillow contract Kimbrel accepts when there’s absolutely no other offers. That’s a long shot to say the least.
Should of paid Chapman.
This. Chapman should have been retained, especially considering what the cubs gave up to acquire him for a rental. He and along with Cishek as setup would have been absolutely filthy. Terrible decision, among many, by Epstein.
Because Rick and Kenny not giving Machado a straight up 10 year deal that he wanted wasn’t a horrible decision. Or saying, “we know our offer was better” when in fact it wasn’t. That wasn’t a horrible decision. How many divisions have the Sox won in the last 4 years? How many rings? Oh that’s right, both are 0. Should they have kept Chapman, probably. But don’t say for a minute Theo has made “many” terrible decisions when this team has averaged 95 wins the last 4 years. Don’t get there with “terrible decisions.”
You got issues man.
The decision wasn’t Epstein’s. It was Chapman’s. Chapman made the decision to return to the Yankees.
Chapman was never in play. He was always a rental going back to the Yankees.
I don’t recall the cubs offering Chapman $80M to stay.
If they had you’d be bashing them for overpaying a reliever and leaving them with no money to extend their young guys
The worst thing about biases are they make you so boringly predictable
I don’t buy into the theory that Chapman was always going back to the Yankees. I mean it’s not like they didn’t pay market rate to bring him back. If the Cubs had been willing to pay him I think there’s a good chance he would have stayed.
And no, keeping Chapman would not have made trading Gleyber Torres for him look any better unless Chapman says that he would have signed elsewhere if the Cubs hadn’t traded for him first.
Sort of agreeing with Chisox on this one. After giving up Gleyber Torres for Chapman, they really needed to re-sign the guy. Maybe it wouldn’t have mattered – Cubs might have matched, maybe even slightly bettered the Yanks’ offer and Chapman would still have gone back to NY. He was public in his complaints about the way Maddon used him and going back to NY he knew he would be back to single inning usage. Still, at the time it did not seem that the Cubs made it a priority to bring him back. On the other hand, they did go out and sign Wade Davis – and in 2017, Wade Davis saved more games than Chapman.
They won a world series… I think that alone made it worth Gleyber Torres.
That is precisely the point. They won a WS with him, so why not bring him back. He was the best closer in the game, and they gave up an All-Star caliber prospect for him.
Because 80 million gauranteed to a reliever is frankly nuts, given their typically short life spans.
Just because they traded a frankly expendable prospect for him (Cubs are just fine at SS) doesn’t mean there’s some extra need to retain him.
Re-signing Chapman wouldn’t have justified trading Torres for him unless we can prove that the Cubs trading for him was the difference between him signing with them and signing elsewhere.
New York Yankees LHP Aroldis Chapman said he would be open to returning to New York, even if they trade him before the trade deadline, after he becomes a free agent at the end of the season.
“If I am traded, I would love to come back and be part of the team again,” Chapman said, according to the New York Daily News’ Mark Feinsand.
Chapman said all along even when traded he was going back to Yankees. Nothing Theo could have done .
Nope. Chapman was overused and exaggerated by the end of game 7. They got him to win a championship and they did exactly that. Maddon had some major brass cajones sending Chapman back out in the 9th inning after blowing the save. Mike Montgomery could retire now and get his number retired by the Cubs based on his 2 pitch first career save in the 10th inning. Getting the 60th out of the game.
For the talk about what the Cubs did or didn”t do with respect to Chapman, the bottom line is that even if you look at the move as a rental player win now move, it was a rent-an-arm win now move that WORKED. There are plenty of those kind of moves every season by contending teams that crash and burn and fans are left with the nasty taste of not having won AND having given up good young talent in the process. Now, as an aging Cubs fan who sat through a lot of chitty baseball and idiotic front office moves since 1966, I can watch Gleyber Torres develop into a star in New York and appreciate his contribution to the Cubs 2016 championship instead of lamenting over another one that got away. As for how things have been handled since … it’s beginning to look and sound all too familiar.
Chapman was overused because he and Strop were the only reliable relievers in that bullpen at the time.
Old Joe deviated from the Morrow plan last season and he’s in the penalty box now. Cubs front office forced a couple new coaches on Uncle Joe to babysit him this season. The new coaches and FO will probably be facetiming between innings to make sure Old Joe is following their proprietary stratomatic algorithm to a T.
As an outsider looking in, I see a lot of hate for the Cubs in here. I thought it was only on the South side
The front office and ownership of both Chicago teams deserve the wrath of their fans this offseason. Since I am the rare supporter of both local teams I have doing double duty, especially the last two weeks in the wake of the White Sox miss/pass on Machado/Harper and the front office excuses that followed.
Aaron, the Cubs do not deserve anyone’s wrath because of the off season. Few Cubs stayed healthy or played up to their abilities last season and they still won 95 games. 95. Theo did not need to make any “big moves” during the off season. Every team has weaknesses here and there. You’re expecting perfection? 95. Just think what this season will bring if most of them stay healthy!
A team serious about the WS doesn’t hang its hope on a dude whose body is built like a crystal chandelier. A team serious about the WS doesn’t consider a closer by committee option. A team serious about the WS doesn’t think it can turn Strop or Edwards into a big time closer.
A team serious about the WS sucks it up, puts their expensive injured closer on the back burner, and finds the best proven closer available. The 2019 Cubs won’t do this. I question the FO committment to a 2019 world championship.
Well said but I put much of the blame on the Ricketts for not letting the Cubs go over the luxury threshold line this offseason despite some of the poor decisions by the front office that got them into this mess in the first place. This franchise is a cash cow with more on the way next year from their new TV deal and some existing contracts coming off the books. The Cubs window of being serious World Series contenders won’t stay open forever and to not pursue a “finishing” piece in Craig Kimbrel at a likely reduced price would be irresponsible.
Maybe Kimbral is not accepting offers of “a likely reduced price.”
There’s always the possibility of a midseason trade. Cubs are built to win a championship when healthy. They will make the necessary moves when the time comes
This cubs team was built to win a championship… three years ago. Take a look around the league. The Red Sox, Yankees, Astros have the most powerful rosters in the league. The Cardinals and Brewers have proven to be as good or slightly better. An argument can be made that 4 out of 5 NL East teams have surpassed the cubs with offseason free agent signings. The cubs have the depth to compete for a division title. I don’t see enough quality of high end talent to get a World Series, let alone win it.
And of course, you are completely impartial.
Sorry, but you don’t win in the offseason. The Cubs are bringing back the same squad that won 95 last year. And, has averaged 97 over the last 4 years. If one of the guys doesn’t stop up and claim the closer role. The Cubs will pick up someone at the deadline.
Brewers are nowhere near as good as or better than the Cubs. The Cubs collapsed plain and simple. 41 games in 40 days is insane for any team. They had 1 day off in September. Any team with a schedule like that would falter and be wore out and their offense suffered. No excuses its just the way baseball is. Brewers took advantage of an easier schedule the last 6 or 7 weeks of the season.
The cardinals are better? Based on record last season? I’m confused.
The Cubs are NOT built to win a championship, healthy or not. When you’re still waiting on the development of guys like Schwarber, Contreras, and Russell after 3-4 major league seasons – it’s not a good sign. When you’ve invested the majority of your payroll into 3 guys (Heyward, Darvish, and Chatwood) who have given little to nothing in production – it’s not a good sign. When the majority of your players have outgrown their managers tactics -it’s not a good sign.
Contreas is easily top 3 in best catchers in baseball. His power will come. Russell needs to be traded before as soon as possible
Exactly. Good to see an objective cubs fan, for once. Sorry if I hurt cubbies fans feelings, but that was an ugly “95 win” team. The cubs clearly have weaknesses that will be exploited. Epstein has tried to address them in strange ways, and as the playoff performance has shown, it’s not working. If Darvish and Bryant give them something, the cubs should have a good regular season though.
Let’s see, Addy grand slam game 6 of World Series, Contreras hr game 6 of nlcs and game 7 of World Series , schwarber lead off hit in 10th inning of game 7 of World Series they won. All have rings .
Addy had a gifted 2 run double as well. Bryant hit a home run in 2 straight games. Dexter Fowler is the first player to hit a lead off home run in game 7 of the world series..and all that happened. And Joe buck was more focused on lebron James who is a well known and well documented Yankees fan.
Interesting observation. The commitment to win now – obvious in 2016 when they rented Chapman and Maddon drove like the rented mule he was through the post-season. Even Chapman publicly griping about being used for more than an inning didn’t do anything to dissuade Maddon from squeezing every pitch out of the dude. You could say they seized their chance and finally won the big prize. Evidence of a similar approach would be signing Kimbrel at any price. Of course Chapman was a trade – and the Cubs paid heavily for the rental. Kimbrel wouldn’t cost any players, but if he refuses to take anything but his demand, I can understand them steering clear of the number of years he wants, especially given how spotty his performance was late last year for Boston. The whole situation is the classic win now vs. thinking ahead dilemma. Kimbrel is still far and away the best and most obvious fix for the Cubs doubtful closer situation. If it was me, I would have signed Kimbrel a while ago. But if ownership is really reining in the front office spending, there’s not a helluva lot for Epstein-Hoyer to do but to hope Glass Jaw Morrow comes back sooner rather than later, effective as he was when healthy last year and that the other bullpen pieces are effective. And that he has learned how to put his pants without hurting himself.
The Cubs should go with Strop and/or Brach as their closer in 2019. IF/When Morrow is healthy he can slot into 7th/8th inning. They should plan their bullpen without relying on Morrow to close games.
Not spending $$$ on Kimbrel is just being cheap. He would probably have been the better target than the dreams of Harper for the success of the 2019 Cubs.
A trade for Wade Davis contract for Chatwoods maybe a dream but it would help. The Rockies get out of 1 of the multiple RP contracts they have and get a SP. Cubs get a legit closer. $18 mill of Wade minus $13 for Chatwood only increases payroll $5 mill, Maybe the trade happens at trade deadline if Rockies can’t duplicate 2018 success. Both players played for the other team so maybe the change of scenery where both Wade Davis & Tyler Chatwood had success helps both players and both teams.
Davis already was a Cub once and sane with Chatwood just came from Rockies.
Hence why he said a change of scenery. Both of them had better seasons with their former team.
You’re crazy if you think the Rockies accept that trade, especially for Chattwalk.
Talk of signing Kimbral this year sound like the talk of signing Holland last year. Wonder if the performance will end up being similar. It would be fun if St Louis was the team to sign both.
Exactly—it’s not like the Cubs are the only team that hasn’t signed Kimbrel. NOBODY HAS SIGNED KIMBREL—it’s March 5th. I’m sure ALL the teams in baseball know a lot more about Kimbrel, baseball finances, player’s health, player’s make up, reason for fall off at the end of last season, etc than anyone on this board. Given the perceived lack of value that Chapman and Davis have provided the past two seasons, there is probably growing data that teams aren’t going to approach either of those levels with an offer.
I just think teams are smarter about the value of the “proven closer.”.” They are generally way more expensive than other relievers simply because of the silly “save” stat. I mean, Fernando Rodney makes more money than most middle relievers because he gets a lot of cheap saves, but he’s not close to being a dominant reliever. He’s used to obtain a stat. I think teams are realizing this, and, even as dominant as Kimbrel has been in the past, there are other pitchers who have been nearly as good but don’t have the saves. The Cubs have plenty of arms that they can use in the back of their bullpen, and plenty of very good – even championship teams, have managed to win with patchwork bullpens. The Astros just two seasons ago went into the season without a “proven closer” and won the world series with Ken Giles, who isn’t even a closer anymore – at the back of the bullpen.
So Morrow should be ready for action by May 1 and then be ready for the DL by May 8…
This is by far the worst theo signing. Chatwood is not this bad. He just lost command..he was decent to a point. Morrow has always had injury problems. If only they could trade him and kinzler for a box of baseball cards mlb the show 19 and a pair of movie tickets good for a year.
What? Morrow was actually decent when he played and the contract is not that big. Darvish or Hayward is the worst Theo signing and its not even close
Darvish was hurt. Heyward. Was always a defensive player. He has the worlds most famous players only rally speech. Soriano derek lee milton Bradley are 10000x worse each than Heyward. Yes I know those were jim hendry moves but seriously who in the blue hell gives milton Bradley a 3 year contract. He was on his 9th team prior to going to the Cubs. The Mariners were his 11th and final team in less than 13 seasons.
Wait your logic for bashing the Morrow signing is he is always injured. Then you come back and give Darvish a pass because he is hurt…what. You said Theo so all that other stuff is irrelevant. For 184 million you need more than a locker room speech. He barley played in the playoff run. And his contract is keeping them from adding more to the team and thats really not debatable.
Rationality has never been his calling card. Nor consistency…
Sorry, but saying Chatwood was better than Morrow last year is ludicrous. The guy, Chatwood, walked 95 batters in 102 IP. Not only should he have not been on a ML roster, he shouldn’t have taken up space in AAA or AA either. As fragile a he was, Morrow was at least effective when able. Having said that, I never cared for either of these signings when they were made. And as bad as it is, there are worse Cubs free agent signings than Jason Heyward – it’s just that the Heyward albatross is still firmly around the team’s neck. Locker room speeches and good defense vs. 350 three-hoppers to the second baseman and a whole bunch of money tied up.
Yep, good’ole cubbie fans. No matter how bad a player on the team is (Chattwalk, Jason “Flyball” Heyward), you can always find a cubs fan who thinks they’re better than hot garbage. Seriously, how stupid does that whole Heyward lore thing sound? Must have been one helluva speech for $184M. Worst hitting position player in the league who actually starts most games.
If the speech helped us win game 7, he’s worth it. Yes his performance with that contract are absolutely detrimental. But the 2016 World Championship is absolutely priceless.
I can tell you’re a white Sox fan. Real Cubs fans never say or call them cubbies. The only exception is during the 7th inning stretch..I bet you’re a bandwagon white Sox fan and jumped on when Michael Barrett punch A.J. Pierzynski after a hard slide a good 12 years ago.