At least it’s not an arm injury, right?
The injury-ravaged top of the Chicago Cubs’ farm system rankings took another hit, as top ten pitcher Pierce Johnson was placed on the DL at AA Tennessee with a strained left calf, per Mick Gillispie. He previously missed about a month of the season with a strained hamstring, which set him back in Spring Training.
Johnson, who just turned 23, is a borderline top 100 prospect in the game, and one of the top few arms in the Cubs’ system. He left his start on Monday after just four innings and 47 pitches, so it was a fair guess that something was up. There’s no word yet on the severity of his injury, or how long he’ll miss, but, earlier in the week, Mick Gillispie was told that Johnson was healthy. Maybe that means this isn’t a particular severe strain, but, since the minor league DL is just seven days, and he was maybe going to miss at least one start anyway, it didn’t hurt to put him on the DL. There’s my optimistic guess, anyway.
On the year, Johnson has thrown just 26.2 innings, with mixed results. He’s been uncharacteristically (and severely) wild in a couple starts, pushing up his walk total to 24 on the year. He’s struck out 22.