The Cubs are in for their second bullpen game in as many days tomorrow, as Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune was among those to relay that left-hander Jordan Wicks has been scratched from his scheduled start tomorrow due to forearm tightness. Right-hander Hayden Wesneski will start the game in Wicks’s place just three days after pitching 2 1/3 scoreless frames against the Astros Thursday afternoon.
It’s not currently clear how serious Wicks’s injury is or if a stint on the injured list will be required, but a lengthy absence would be a major blow to the Cubs. The club’s first-round pick in the 2021 draft, Wicks has pitched solidly for the Cubs through five starts this season, posting a roughly league average 4.70 ERA and a much stronger 3.25 FIP in 23 innings of work. An trip to the shelf for Wicks would further exacerbate Chicago’s early-season injury woes. Hurlers Justin Steele, Kyle Hendricks, Drew Smyly, and Julian Merryweather are all currently on the injured list (though the former may be back soon) while the positional corps has lost both Seiya Suzuki and Cody Bellinger from its outfield mix.
The laundry list of injuries has left the Cubs somewhat thin in terms of rotation options, with both Ben Brown and now Wesneski stepping in to make starts after previously pitching out of the bullpen for the big league club. 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 club’s top non-roster depth options for the rotation.
More 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 during the club’s pregame workouts prior to a game against the Pirates in Pittsburgh. Fortunately, Junis is back traveling with the team and spoke to Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel yesterday. The right-hander noted that he underwent an MRI and CT scan, both of which came back clean, before he was released from the hospital. Now that he’s back with the team, it appears Junis is set to continue rehabbing from the shoulder impingement that has cost him most of the season to this point. Per MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy, Brewers manager Pat Murphy recently indicated that the club may look to bring Junis back into the fold as a reliever rather than build him up to start. It’s something of a surprise given the recent injuries suffered by lefties DL Hall and Wade Miley, though it’s possible that a multi-inning relief role could allow the Brewers to maximize Junis’s innings in the short-term.
- Cardinals outfielder Dylan Carlson has missed the entire season to this point after suffering a sprained AC joint in his left shoulder just before Opening Day. Fortunately, however, it appears that the 25-year-old could be nearing his season debut. According to MLB.com’s Injury Tracker, Carlson is set to begin a rehab assignment in the near future if he comes out of a hitting session today pain-free. The return of Carlson would be most welcome for St. Louis, as the club recently optioned struggling youngster Jordan Walker to the minor leagues. With Carlson and Tommy Edman both on the injured list, that’s left the club to rely on Michael Siani and Alec Burleson as major contributors to the outfield mix alongside Lars Nootbaar and Brendan Donovan.
So now Wicks has forearm tightness. That’s about right since it’s been a few hours since the last report of a guy with forearm tightness,
I would be more than ok if Counsell decided to start Mervis on the mound tomorrow
RSox – I agree! But I do feel sorry for the Cubs with all their injuries. Wicks, Hendricks, Killian, Merryweather, Smyly, Steele, Bellinger and Suzuki …. there’s a bunch of key players included in that list.
That’s why, unlike many others, I don’t whine about the Red Sox injuries.
That’s baseball for you. Except the Red Sox let’s face it were not going to be competing in their division this year. Although for one a cards fan seem to be enjoying all these injuries to cubs considering how many cubs fans relished the Cardinals starting staff to falling apart.
Wesneski can fill in for Wicks if he has to go on the DL. Palencia can come back up. Little is looking a tad shaky after today. All in all the Cubs still have the arms to weather the storm. Good news is Steele off to rehab starts and you still have Smyly and Hendricks who can come back soon. Shouldn’t be a problem.
No problem. Well, except for the fact that Hendricks is washed (most likely), Smyly isn’t good and the bullpen stinks. Palencia throws hard but – like Little – can’t find the strike zone. It’s great that Steele is coming back, but how long until his elbow starts hurting?
Ah, that’s the rememthecoop, that we are just too familiar with. The glass is always ‘half empty’ guy. The Cubs loose a game, and the sky is falling, the sky is falling.
Coop, you must be a blast to live with.
Yeah, as opposed to the rose colored glasses fanboy. Listen, your attitude is certainly one way to describe the way I handle things. However, another way to look at it is that I’m being realistic.
I think it’s time to clear some 40 man roster spots and add a couple pitchers. Cubs should look to move Davis and Mastrobuoni, add Horton and someone else. Then strongly consider moving Mervis and adding Caissie to the big league club.
I’ve been saying that for weeks.
But only now does it actually make sense.
I’m ready for Carlson back. Center has been an automatic out in the lineup.
Yeah getting Edman back eventually would be nice too. Both Siani and Scott have played good defense but no offense at all.
Tommy might be stepping into 2B rather than CF. Gorman might need a trip to Memphis to get himself straightened out. And Donovan hasn’t been much better. Burleson needs to really take advantage of his opportunity right now.
Gorman had a pretty good week and leads the team in HR and RBI so he won’t be going down anytime soon. Donovan also looking better the past couple games. Edman won’t be back for awhile since his wrist surgery happened way later than it could have. We need Tommy so just hope his play isn’t affected by the wrist.
Even if Carlson performs when given playing time, which is certainly not a given, we still have the corner spots to worry about. Nootbaar isn’t playing well but like Gorman and Donovan I think he will pick it up. Walker is in Memphis or at least he will be eventually. Burleson needs to perform if he wants to be more than a bench guy moving forward. Having a healthy Donovan and edman will allow for a lot of different options. Scott and Walker I imagine will be back eventually but who knows when.
Cardinal fans:
What is the status of Edman’s recovery? Has he resumed baseball activities?
Should be back in late May.
Edman has resumed baseball activities. I’ll believe he’s coming back when I read he’s making rehab starts in Memphis. They’ve extended this too many times.
None taken…
I agree. They got rid of some of the dead weight (Walker and Scott) from the lineup, and now have won 4 of 5. Replacing Siani with Carlson will only improve upon that even more.
The cubs can’t catch a break. My goodness.
The Brewers need starting pitching….really bad. Almost anyone Almost.
I know a fairly recent Cy Young winner they could sign for the league minimum…
Meanwhile, they’re in first place.
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At least Carlson won’t have to worry about Jordan Walker doing his NFL Combine Tackling Workout on him any more.
“Defensively, Walker is a work on progress” has been said, in a major understatement. Now they can add “At the plate, Walker looks lost” to that assessment.
I miss Jacob Junis. Handy dude to have.