Oh, nuts. Just as the positive vibes were rolling into Wrigley Field, alongside the players reporting for Summer Camp, we’re hit with a bit of bad news.
Jose Quintana will be sidelined for at least two weeks (likely much more than that) at the worst possible time:
Injury update on Jose Quintana from the Cubs… pic.twitter.com/75d5SOPWxl
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) July 2, 2020
Quintana sliced his finger on some dishes, suffering a laceration so deep on his left thumb it required five stitches *and* microscopic surgery to determine the extent of the injury. The surgery was apparently successful – in that it identified the problem and repaired it – but he’ll not be throwing for two full weeks, before a decision is made on the timeline thereafter.
Given that the next three weeks are all we have before the sprinted 60-game season, this could be very tough for Quintana and the Cubs to bounce back from. My guess is that there’s basically no chance he’ll be ready for the start of the season, as he’s presumably been off the mound since the spring, and will now be another several weeks behind everyone else. And without a traditional Triple-A team with which to rehab, this could be a bit of a tricky problem. I think we’d be lucky to get him for even one full month of the season, and there’s no telling how this’ll impact his performance.
For now, I’d expect the Opening Day rotation to include Jon Lester, Kyle Hendricks, Yu Darvish, Tyler Chatwood, and Alec Mills. And let’s hope each of those five can navigate this brand new Spring Training with maximum health, because the depth behind them is considerably weaker. Moreover, as guys like Adbert Alzolay and Mills drift into the rotation, they’re weakening the bullpen, where they’re otherwise expected to contribute meaningfully. This just wasn’t a good part of the Cubs roster to take a hit.
We’ll evaluate the fallout as soon as we know a little more.
UPDATE: Theo Epstein speaks, and nails it on the head.
Theo: Quintana's injury "challenges" the Cubs' depth. Mentions Alec Mills, Colin Rea and Adbert Alzolay as the depth behind.
"We had some concerns about our starting pitching depth, and a freak injury challenges us further in that area."
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) July 2, 2020
Colin Rea and Alzolay, you’ll recall, were in the fifth starter competition back in Spring Training, but both were behind Chatwood and Mills.
UPDATE: Brett has more here.