Cubs right-hander Javier Assad has been sidelined this spring due to oblique soreness, and 670 The Score’s Bruce Levine relays this afternoon that the righty won’t be ready to pitch in time for either the Tokyo Series on March 18 or the club’s stateside opener against the Diamondbacks on March 27. Presumably, the Cubs will place him on the injured list to open the season, leaving him out of action for at least the beginning of April.
Assad, 27, has found plenty of success over three seasons in the majors with Chicago despite questionable peripherals. The right-hander served in a part-time swing role for the Cubs in both the 2022 and ’23 seasons, posting a 3.06 ERA (139 ERA+) in 147 innings of work across 41 appearances (18 starts) during that two-year stretch. That excellent production came in spite of underlying numbers that were far less impressive. Assad walked 9.9% of his opponents while striking out just 20.2% of them over those first two seasons, and his 44.7% groundball rate was strong but not outstanding. That left him with a 4.34 FIP and a 4.59 SIERA over those two years, both of which painted him as a below average pitcher despite his above-average results.
When the right-hander was handed an Opening Day rotation spot by the Cubs last year, it was fair to wonder whether those lackluster peripherals would come back to bite him. He once again managed to defy the underlying metrics in 2024, however, posting a 3.73 ERA (107 ERA+) despite a 4.64 FIP and 4.72 SIERA. His strikeout, walk, and groundball rates were largely unchanged from the prior two seasons, but despite that he still posted the numbers of a solid back-end start across 147 innings and 29 starts. His 4.38 ERA and 4.80 FIP after the All-Star break last year stuck out as a potential cause for concern, but after an offseason that saw the club focus more on upgrading its lineup and bullpen rather than the rotation Assad once again figured to feature in the club’s starting five to open the 2025 season.
Those plans will have to be put on hold for now, however, as Assad is only just beginning to work his way back to the mound after being sidelined for all of last month by an oblique strain. Levine writes that the Cubs hope he’ll be able to proceed to throwing a bullpen session next week, but even that seems up in the air. Given the uncertainty surrounding Assad’s status, it’s hardly a surprise that the Cubs decided to formally pull the plug on him as an Opening Day possibility and begin exploring other options to fill out the rotation in earnest.
Shota Imanaga and Justin Steele front Chicago’s rotation and are slated to start the club’s two-game series against the Dodgers in Tokyo. Meanwhile, veterans Jameson Taillon and Matthew Boyd make up the middle of the Cubs’ rotation after Chicago added Boyd on a two-year deal back in December. With Assad no longer an option for the fifth starter job, it seems likely that the gig could fall to veteran swing man Colin Rea. Rea, 34, posted a 4.40 ERA (96 ERA+) and 4.82 FIP in 58 appearances (49 starts) with Milwaukee over the past two years. He figures to be on the Opening Day roster so long as he’s healthy, though he does have ample experience pitching in relief as well.
The possibility that Rea could be used as a long reliever rather than a starter leaves the door open for one of the Cubs’ other potential starting options to grab the fifth starter job. Right-hander Ben Brown dazzled in his rookie season with a 3.58 ERA and 3.11 FIP in 55 1/3 innings of work, and while he was sidelined by an osteoma on his neck for the entire second half last year he now appears to be fully healthy. Jordan Wicks struggled through an injury-marred campaign in 2024 but is a recent top-100 prospect with plenty of upside.
Veteran rotation arms Chris Flexen and Brad Keller are both in camp as non-roster invitees, and it’s possible either could factor into the competition for the fifth starter job alongside Rea, Brown, and Wicks. One player who is unlikely to compete for the job is top pitching prospect Cade Horton, who is healthy this spring after what amounted to a lost season in 2024 but still has minimal experience at the Triple-A level under his belt. Whoever earns the fifth starter job could theoretically pitch themselves into a more permanent job that lasts even beyond Assad’s upcoming IL stint, given that the 27-year-old has both ample bullpen experience and minor league options remaining.
Team Brown reporting
i cant understand how guys show up to ST and before throwing a single pitch they’re alredy out with significant injuries. pitchers like javier assad, andrew abbott, frankie montas, sean manea
they were healthy for 6 months and then suddenly on day 1 of ST they’re out with injuries? or did they not stay in shape this whole time and only now do tms realize their players are out of shape and hurt ?
devin williams kept his mouth shut between september 2023 and march 2024 about a serious back injury. when ST began he finally admitted he’s hurt, and he missed 4 months of the regular season. tms need to be more diligent about keeping in touch with their players in offseason about injuries, and players need to do better about staying in shape year round and if they’re hurt, speaking up about it. manea got paid $75 mil for f sake and he’s alredy due to miss time? thats f’ed up
That depends. Some players spend the whole off season at their training facilities. Others play winterball.
I don’t know the situation that Assad was in but I am glad that he is out. He was very lucky last year due to uncharacteristically weather in Chicago. His road splits were closer to his FIP
So I would rather it go to Brown. Brown has a high ceiling and tapping into it pays off far more than these innings soaker options
Rea is having a solid spring and along with Counsell’s familiarity with him. I think he’ll have the 5 spot- at least for now..
Why did you ONLY capitalize ST ??
The grammar and punctuation police better get to the bottom of this!
Yous crack me up.
Players typically take a month off from any baseball activity after the season ends. For pitchers, stretching and soft tosses pick up in Dec. They’re already staying in shape year-round so maybe quit assigning blame to the lack of player work ethics when they get hurt.
Good, Keller just got blown up also. Get these pretenders out of here.
Rea looked pretty good. He would be my #2 and Wicks #3. Rest are trash
Keller was great in his first inning. Then a missed fly ball and 2 wind blown HR’s made it look worse than it was. A sandstorm warning came up in the middle of his outing. Not saying he was awesome the whole time, But if he would have come out after one he would’ve been fine. he’s still throwing mid to upper 90’s after sitting at 92 the last 3 years. Cubs are doing a good job with him. Maybe you watched the game, But did you really see anything? Hmmmmm
Sooner or the later the vaunted Cubs’ farm system is going to have to actually produce some usable players or they’re going to stay a .500 team.
This is crucial year for the team and Jed Hoyer.
Hoyer is limited by Tom Ricketts. Don’t be shocked if he decides to move on to a team that is willing to spend like a top 5 payroll vs a top 14.
Sad really. Tom did great rebuilding the infrastructure but now he has turned into a profit driven approach
The problem is there are only five teams with a Top 5 payroll, and they currently employ exec’s they seem happy with.
This is what we call conjecture.
What is the truth? Who knows. Tom has said same page. Jed has made some comments that lead one to think that he has been handcuffed
It is all posturing on both sides? Most likely
I agree that Hoyer probably feels handcuffed. I don’t think that is enough of an excuse. There are many factors that contribute to a team’s success. Jed is responsible for all of them.
Jed is definitely in the hot seat this year. That’s why he went out and got Kyle Tucker. These young prospects need to show up this year, Cubs need to win one of the Wild Card spots.
Can you call it a hot seat? When your team has a top 5 revenue and a top 14 payroll is it honestly jed’s fault?
I think we like point in the fingers at people for shortcomings. It’s natural and it’s easy to do and it’s lazy also
Of course it’s a hot seat. Winning is the expectation. Plenty of teams win without a top 5 payroll. Jed is also responsible for the farm system and although the projections are great, so far, they major league team hasn’t reaped many benefits.
There are plenty of reasons for fans to be frustrated with Hoyer and the team. Blaming payroll is kind of making excuses.
This is a privileged mentality.
Most teams build up their systems via losing.
Jed had to win enough to keep the fans coming but could not spend when it mattered
Ohtani? Not even close
Soto? Pulled the quit card early.
Belligener opts in. Sell sell sell
Tucker next year? No one expects that and even a new Prez can not change a owner’s mind set.
Tom is snakebit on the cost of star players.
His highest contract was Heyward at 180M
He had the worst offer to Bregman. Even though I feel thank God on that one.
Tom has said no deferred anymore
So would a top executive take that job? No
A guy trying to get exposure for a better gig sure
Any “top executive” would give his right nut for that job.
Name one?
The word privileged has multiple applications.
The Cardinals stayed competitive for more than 20 years without approaching a top 5 payroll.
The Brewers have been relatively competitive for the last 10 or so years without approaching a top 10 payroll.
There are many executives in baseball who probably believe they could thrive with a $240 million payroll.
They made solid trades to have the other team absorb contract.
It was smart.
Also they have a history of taking pitchers and maxing out their value.
Also they stole secrets from Houston.
Mixed bag.
Smart is the name of the game. MLB is not divided into rich teams and poor teams. It is divided into smart teams and dumb teams. The Cubs have looked more like a dumb team than a smart team in the last five years. That’s why Hoyer’s on the hot seat.
You can’t have a top five, actually top two farm system without tanking and be called dumb
Stop hating it’s unjustified
Back to my original point. A top 5 farm system doesn’t mean anything unless it actually produces usable players. Everything else is projection.
There is no hate coming from me. I’m being completely objective here. I save my hate for Mo and the Cardinals front office. I would like the Cubs to win big. It would amp up the pressure on the Cardinals. As long as the Cubs swim in mediocrity, the Cardinals are content to do the same.
I wish Jed was in the hot seat. Unfortunately that might not be the case so you can expect more wasted prospects and low level stupid FA signings for no reason. Herz, Ferris, Hope, Smith, Arias, Estrada, Canario, Rosario and a few more I’m sure I’m missing. Just off the top of my head. Remember them when they dome to town and beat the Cubs brains in.
This. Highly ranked minor leaguers are nice, but the Cubs minor leaguers pan out less than expected.
Huh. Maybe that’s because what you have to show for the prospects I mentioned above is 2 months of crap from Candelerio, And Eli Morgan and Michael Busch. Most of them are gone for even less than that. A couple of bucks for Ricketts gardener.
Thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery.
What does a Cease trade look like now?
I actually like the current team. Brown looks solid. Steele added a change up and it suits him. Shaw should play tomorrow.
Over all the team is good enough to slap the crew. That is a good start
Yeah waste some more prospects on a 1 year rental they have zero intention of re signing. That’s the recipe for success.
Agree uncle. Giving away these guys for one year rentals, absolutely is stupidity.
Forget cease! Homer’s wishes to hold onto his top prospects! And the same goes for unproven prospects like Shaw instead choosing to hold onto what they have instead of going after an arenado even on a temporary fill in basis.
STL said no. They talked.
STL is not going to help the evil blue nation.
Assad was never going to be on the opening day roster to begin with because he’s optionable and a starter. Cubs were always going to go with a reliever heavy roster to open the season in Japan.
I would assume the Cubs fill his roster spot with Luke Little since the Dodgers have several lefty hitters.
True. for those 2 games they will probably have Steele, Imanaga and a long man and 10 other relievers. At least that’s what I’d do anyway.
Now that I think about it I don’t know if that’s possible. I know they can have like a 5 man Taxi Squad I think. So I’m assuming that guys like Tallion, Boyd and whoever is #5 will be on it? Unless it’s Rea and he can be the Swing Man? I’d be lying if I said I knew how it’s gonna work.
At first glance, I thought this was a story about the WikiLeaks guy.