The Cubs announced today that right-hander Adbert Alzolay has been placed on the 15-day injured list with a right forearm strain. Fellow righty José Cuas was recalled from Triple-A Iowa in a corresponding move.
It’s not yet clear how much time Alzolay is expected to miss, though there seems to be some level of worry. Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune relays word from manager Craig Counsell on X, with the skipper saying the righty became sore during yesterday’s game in Pittsburgh and is getting imaging today. Per Counsell’s framing, since Alzolay is getting testing and has been immediately placed on the IL before the team even has the results, it indicates a level of concern.
The full results of the testing will provide more details on the severity and the timing, but there’s always some uneasiness when a pitcher’s throwing arm is involved. This also isn’t Alzolay’s first IL stint of this nature, as he missed about two weeks in September last year, also due to a right forearm strain.
He’s also experienced a drop off in results. He broke out as the Cubs’ closer last year, something MLBTR covered in August. He finished the year with a 2.67 earned run average in 64 innings. He struck out 26.5% of batters faced while giving out walks just 5.1% of the time and getting grounders on 42.2% of balls in play. He racked up 22 saves in the process.
Here in 2024, he has a 4.67 ERA through 18 appearances. His walk rate is up to 8% and his strikeout rate is way down to 17.3%. The velocity is down a bit on all five of his pitches, per Statcast. He was bumped out of the closer’s role a few weeks back, with Counsell saying that “we’ve got to get Adbert some confidence.”
Time will tell whether this is just a blip or a significant setback, but it should be a challenge for the Cubs either way. Their injured list already featured six pitchers before today, with Caleb Kilian, Jordan Wicks, Yency Almonte, Julian Merryweather, Daniel Palencia and Drew Smyly now joined by Alzolay. The club’s relief core has a combined ERA of 4.58 for the year, which places them 24th in the league. As the injuries continue piling up, it will be harder for the club to improve upon that mark.
For now, Héctor Neris has taken over the closer’s role, with six saves already. He has an even ERA of 3.00 on the year despite walking more batters than he has struck out. He has an 18.6% strikeout rate and 20% walk rate. A 52.4% ground ball rate has helped him strand 86.5% of runners and keep his ERA down, but his 5.27 FIP and 5.75 SIERA suggest he may be on shaky ground. Mark Leiter Jr. has an excellent 0.53 ERA on the year with strong peripherals. He can’t keep stranding 84.2% of baserunners but his 2.14 FIP and 3.24 SIERA are still strong. Pitchers like Colten Brewer and Richard Lovelady may also have to factor into the setup mix until other arms get healthy.
Chicago Cubs/Wrigley Field/Northside Chicago = White Sox/ Guaranteed Rate Field/Southside Envy.
Southside is the real Chicago.
I still haven’t changed my underwear since the last time you changed your stupid username
He still does Drugs and Alcohol together too obviously.
souiefh must think he’s clever while the rest of the world realizes he’s an effing idiot troll
Well he did change his name to a used condom. Can’t imagine how much drugs and alcohol that took to come up with. It’s like Ruthless People where the FBI guy goes ” We might be dealing with the Stupidest person on the face of the Earth” Maybe we should shoot him”
Good luck to Adbert, seems like a nice guy.
Cubs have a Leiter to put out fires.
iɹǝnɐᗺ uƃıS
No. He’s a clubhouse cancer.
So you’ve played with him before?
Yes. He’s a hot head. That’s the last thing the cubs need is killing their morale.
I’m not sure about hot, but dick, yeah
He threw a ball from the mound to the bleachers when Terry Francona pulled him from the game. Trying to replicate what Carlos Zambrano did like 10 years prior. (I don’t actually know if he did it to copy Big Z. The point is, he was pissed off. Most pitchers hold in their anger until they can destroy the gatorade jugs.
For real. People need to stop talking about him throwing the ball over the fence. No one cares about that!
It proves he has short temper.
GMs must think he’s not good enough to help their team
History of choking
the best thing alzolay can do for the cubs right now is spend time on the DL
I couldn’t agree more.
I’d say this was tragic but he’s been horrible anyway so I doubt anybody else can do any worse. Even Cuas.
Really wish the Cubs would give Carl Edwards Jr. or Luke Little.
Edwards barely throws harder than Hendricks and Little still can’t hit the broad side of a barn. Careful what you wish for.
Both aee better options than Cuas. Maybe call up Porter Hodge. Nickname him Hamilton Porter
Hodge is just about as accurate as Little right now. I watch the games. All the bullpen depth is gone. The best option is McWilliams and he’s just back into baseball after quitting but throws Mid 90’s effortlessly and throws strikes. probably needs a little more time. I don’t want to rush him and see him go down too right now.
Little pitched very well for the Cubs aside from one bad game where Counsell brought him in to follow Brown, which negated Littles only weapon.
Not just one game. Did you forget the game where he followed Hendricks.against the Dbacks last month?
Uh apparently because he gave up one run against the Diamondbacks. Pretty good if you ask me.
I can’t believe you liked your own comment
He gave up 1 run on his line, 3 more on Hendricks’ line. He came in and uncorked two wild pitches and a sac fly.
EDIT to add: I don’t think you can like your own comment so not sure what you meant by that.
The dreaded pitcher forearm strain, hopefully it’s mild n he’ll be back soon.
Alzolay is out of options. This is a IL stint based on performance not health.
The amount of injuries to pitchers am curious how many there will be available for mound duty in AA games.
Spaghettio, Uh-Oh
The ole forearm strain, wink, wink.
Only speculation on my part. But it’s likely Adbert has been dealing with some physical issues since the season started. The way he has struggled so dramatically was concerning. Maybe he finally spoke up and admitted something’s not right physically. Hoping for the best.