3:36pm: Strop’s injury will cost him more than the 10-day minimum, it seems. The right-hander told reporters that an MRI performed earlier today revealed a Grade 2 strain (Twitter link via Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times). Strop says that there’s no timeline for his return at this point. For now, he’ll take three to four days to rest the hamstring before he begins working back.
3:20pm: Russell is in tonight’s lineup, playing second base and batting eighth, the team announced. Zobrist has been placed on the restricted list after being granted a leave of absence to deal with a personal matter, per the club.
Chicago also announced that right-hander Pedro Strop has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a hamstring strain, with lefty Mike Montgomery coming off the injured list in his place.
2:34pm: The Cubs have decided to activate shortstop Addison Russell for tonight’s game, according to David Kaplan of NBC Sports Chicago (Twitter links). He will see his first game action since last September.
It seems that the timing of the decision was driven by the potential unavailability of Ben Zobrist and Daniel Descalso. The former missed yesterday’s game with an undisclosed personal matter while the latter has been nursing an ankle injury.
Russell recently finished a 40-game suspension issued under the MLB-MLBPA Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy. His former wife has alleged a variety of abusive actions during their marriage.
The Cubs initially optioned Russell to Triple-A, though his stay proved short. A lifetime .242/.313/.392 hitter through nearly two thousand MLB plate appearances, he carries a .222/.357/.467 batting line in 56 PA this year at the highest level of the minors.
Russell is five days away from passing into the 4+ MLB service class. Assuming he stays up, he’ll be eligible for arbitration twice more before qualifying for free agency.
