The Cubs are expecting to welcome shortstop Dansby Swanson back from the injured list prior to Tuesday’s series opener against the Braves, as noted by Kyle Williams of the Chicago Sun Times. Williams relayed that club manager Craig Counsell told reporters today that Swanson is “heading in a good direction” as he participates in baseball activities in preparation for his return.
Swanson has been on the injured list for just over a week due to a right knee sprain, although he had been playing through the issue since he first suffered the injury back on April 25. In the 13 contests he appeared in from April 25 onward before hitting the shelf, Swanson slashed an anemic .159/.229/.227 at the plate while committed two errors in the field. If those struggles were the result of the injury, the 30-year-old’s return to action figures to offer a huge boost to the Cubs as evidenced by a strong 2023 campaign where he slashed a respectable .244/.328/.416 (104 wRC+) while playing elite defense at shortstop.
The absence of Swanson has been exacerbated by a bout of hamstring tightness that has sidelined second baseman Nico Hoerner, who is an above-average defensive shortstop in his own right and had been handling the position in place of Swanson prior to his own injury. Hoerner, who has impressed with a solid .269/.361/.391 slash line (119 wRC+) to this point in the 2024 campaign, has not yet been placed on the injured list despite the fact that the Cubs aren’t certain when he’ll be able to return to action. Counsell indicated to reporters (including Williams) that if Hoerner isn’t ready to play tomorrow the club will likely wait until Tuesday to make an IL decision regarding Hoerner thanks to their day off on Monday.
The Cubs have missed their typical double play combo dearly, as they’ve been forced to rely on utility infielders Miles Mastrobuoni and Nick Madrigal as their fill-in options at shortstop and second base, respectively. The duo have managed wRC+ figures of just 35 and 62 respectively while offering nowhere near the Gold Glove award-winning skills of Swanson and Hoerner. Shortstop prospect Luis Vazquez has hit fairly well at the Triple-A level this season despite his glove-first reputation and is already on the club’s 40-man roster, making him a possible alternative should Hoerner require a trip to the shelf.
Looking toward the pitching staff, Counsell provided good news to reporters today as he noted that lefties Drew Smyly and Jordan Wicks both threw bullpen sessions on Friday and are nearing rehab assignments. Smyly appears to be slightly further along between the two, as Counsell indicated that he expected the lefty to begin his rehab assignment “early next week” without identifying a specific timeline regarding Wicks. The return of both southpaws figures to significantly bolster Chicago’s starting pitching depth; Wicks had a 4.70 ERA and a strong 3.26 FIP in five starts prior to hitting the shelf with a forearm strain, while Smyly began the season in the bullpen but has made at least 22 starts for the Cubs in each of the past two seasons.
That starting pitching depth figures to be particularly valuable to the Cubs given the deep struggles of veteran right-hander Kyle Hendricks. The 34-year-old soft-tosser was lit up to the tune of a 12.00 ERA and 7.70 FIP in five starts this season before he was sidelined by a low back strain in late April. He returned from the shelf last week and appeared to have potentially turned a corner after throwing five innings of one-run ball against the Pirates, but a start yesterday against those same Pirates proved to be disastrous as he surrendered eight runs (seven earned) on a whopping eleven hits in just 4 2/3 innings of work.
Asked about Hendricks’s deep struggles after yesterday’s game, Counsell made clear to reporters (including Patrick Mooney of The Athletic) that the Cubs need more from the right-hander going forward.
“We certainly need better,” Counsell said of Hendricks’s performance this year. “That’s not going to work. And that’s not going to be good enough.”
When asked if Hendricks will remain in the rotation going forward, Counsell noted that the club is dealing with a number of pitching injuries and is “going to need innings,” but also acknowledged that the club will need to “see what’s going on” regarding the veteran righty. Speculatively speaking, it’s easy to imagine the return of Wicks and Smyly offering the Cubs the sort of healthy pitching depth they’d need, alongside Hayden Wesneski and Ben Brown, to more seriously consider moving on from their longest-tenured player should Hendricks’s results not improve.
Biomechanical Analysis of Baseball Player Injury Rehabilitation Protocols and Multivariate Performance Assessment Metrics
Quite a mouthful. Deserves an upvote for creativity.
Would have been better if he somehow had the initials spell out a word…
I really hope Vasquez gets the call. I really want an excuse to buy a Morelquez jersey
That’s pretty normal to buy sports jerseys. It would be weird going to a baseball game and not sport my team. Whether that’s with a jersey or hat or even socks.
In re Nico Hoerner, more great Injured List management by the Cubs. They played shorthanded pretty much all of last week.
The Cubs currently cannot have nice things. Bellinger comes back, Swanson goes out, Suzuki comes back, Nico get hurt.
Given how anemic the offense has been, why hasn’t Counsell put Morel at second and Wisdom at third?
I think the reason is because he knows that if Morel is going to be a long-term answer at 3B, he needs as many reps as he can get. Sure, he’s’ shown signs of improvement, but he’s still not a “good” fielding third baseman.. That’s really the only reason I can think of, because otherwise you’re right – your suggestion would seem to make more sense.
Oh, and Jed seems to have a fascination with Miles Masturbation.
Because Wisdom should not play defense ever. Especially at 3rd. Morel is better at 3rd.
It seems “whopping” is one of Nick’s favorite words.
I don’t think Hendricks is going to last through this season. Counsell’s going to have a meeting with him, and he’ll be put on waivers or encouraged to retire. I wish it didn’t have to be that way, but every great pitcher knows when it’s time to pass the torch. Jake Arrieta was wise enough to know when to hang up the cleats, Hendricks needs to do the same. And there’s no shame in doing that. He’s been great throughout his career and he’ll be remembered fondly, especially for the 2016 World Series.
I think they’d try to hide him in the bullpen before a dfa. They could end up paying him $10 million to pitch for the Brewers in August.
Didn’t the Atlanta Braves do that with one of their starting pitchers MANY years back? I can’t remember the guys name though.