Yesterday we learned that Chicago Cubs second baseman Mike Fontenot has a bum shoulder, which isn’t a huge concern, as he’s expected to be back tomorrow or early next week.
The shoulder injury that really shook the Cubs’ world, though, was that of reliever Angel Guzman. He’d been rehabbing from offseason knee surgery when he had some “discomfort” in his shoulder last week. The Cubs shut him down with the hopes that he could slowly come back – and he did, for a little while. But yesterday was apparently a breaking point, because the Cubs have completely shut him down, sent him for an MRI, and said that he’s unlikely to be ready for the start of the season.
We’ll reserve our PANIC until hearing the results of the MRI, but either way, for a bullpen already short on certain options, losing Guzman is a real kick in the crotch. The Cubs have the depth to replace him, but not necessarily the reliability. You better believe if Jim Hendry wasn’t working the phones before, he is now.