The Cubs have placed right-hander Adbert Alzolay on the 10-day injured list due to a left hamstring strain. Righty Trevor Megill was called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move.
Alzolay left his start last night in the second inning due to the injury, adding to a disastrous inning for the Cubs that saw the Marlins score 11 runs en route to a 14-10 victory. Alzolay was charged with six of those runs over his 1 1/3 innings of work, his worst performance in what has been an inconsistent season for the 26-year-old. Alzolay has a 5.16 ERA over 106 1/3 frames in 2021, as above-average walk and strikeouts rates haven’t been enough to counter a lot of hard contact from opposing batters against Alzolay’s offerings.
After posting a 2.95 ERA over a small sample size of 21 1/3 innings last season, Alzolay was seen as a candidate to step forward and establish himself as a regular member of Chicago’s rotation. Given how the Cubs have dealt much of their veteran pitching beyond Kyle Hendricks, Alzolay is still a candidate for the 2022 staff almost by default. Once he returns from the IL, Alzolay will get the rest of this season to make his case heading into Spring Training and ahead of whatever pitching additions the Cubs could make this winter.
I knew the cubs would be a flop again this year.
Yeah, good luck on your aging stars. No future playoffs for Cards anytime soon.
At least they won’t be battling Pittsburgh for last place anytime soon.
They will when the Arenado and Goldschmidt contracts are no longer worthwhile, in roughly 2023.
And I hope to lose that battle with Pittsburgh and get a nice hight draft pick.
Cardinals are ship with a broken rutter and no port to sail to. They have no chance of catching Milwaukee and their 3 aces in 2022, 2023 or 2024. Stl should commit to a rebuild or a perennial wildcard strategy.
Why havent they brought up Ben Leeper yet? His numbers at double-A and triple-A have been bananas all year.
Instead, we get more Trevor Megill for the 8th time this year…..
Also, is Tommy Nance hurt? Looks like he had righted the ship at triple-A. Hope they give him another look with the big league club before the end of the year.
I’m so pyyssed off. It’s retro Cubs time yet again, where many fans think that 500 baseball is successful. Well, it’s not all bad. During these blowouts, Happ at cleanup raised his average to 178. Damn it.
Has anyone noticed the rate of injuries starting pitchers have sustained this year has gone through the roof?
It was bad before, but now it’s every third start they go on the IL for one thing or another.
I’m so sorry for Cub fans.
It’s time for them to revolt. Stop going to the ridiculously expensive games. Stop buying the equally ridiculous expensive merchandise. These actions by the fans will definitely factor into the Rickett’s off season decisions about improving the team for next year.
Why they are still playing Ian Happ? Because there is no one in the pipeline ready behind him next year, either. Brennan Davis is a corner outfielder—why not let him struggle at the MLB level? In the least, Davis should be working at the AAA level.
None of their top rated homegrown younger prospects show the ability to hit. Howard—nope. Amaya: backup catcher bat, no matter how good his arm. Strumpf: sounds like Smurf—and hits like one, too.
They may have gotten a future starter in Canario, but again, he is years away with the way unless he goes on such a tear that he jumps through levels quickly.
Crow-Armstrong only has six games, so he has loads of potential but is injured and only 19.
Unless the Cubs go after Bryant in FA and bring him back like they should, next year’s team is going to look like the current state. Bryant will be the top FA hitter this off-season—mostly due to history, age, flexible positioning. Correa is likely “the best” with age and consistency.
At SS: Correa, Story or Seager, Baez, Semian. They need one of these guys, preferably on that order. Move Nico back to CF, then, with Madrigal at 2b.
Ortega is having a career month—don’t count on him sustaining anything by handing him the job with no competition in 2022.
My dreams for signings and lineup/rotation:
1 Hoerner CF
2 Madrigal 2B
3 Bryant LF
4 Correa/Story/Seager SS
5 Contreras C
6 Wisdom 3B
7 Scwindel 1B
8 Heyward RF
9 SP
Rotation
1 Stroman (youngish, consistent, ready)
2 Syndergaard (coming off injury, could garner a pricey short term deal, but worth it if he returns to ace form)
3 Hendricks (take the pressure off this guy being a Greg Maddie)
4 Steele (Lefty)
5 Alzolay (Next year he may get it completely together and perform like a top rotation guy with a full year of seasoning)
Cubbiepatriot21 – I liked your commentary. It shows you care about our Cubs. You’re a bit early. It’ll be interesting to see how things unfold by next Spring. Perhaps you’ve hit a couple of winning selections.