Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Ted Lilly is still on track to come back by mid-April, but he is suffering from yet another malady: a sore and stiff back.
Cubs left-hander Ted Lilly was scheduled to pitch Friday for Triple-A Iowa, but his session was pushed back to Sunday because of stiffness in his back.
Cubs manager Lou Piniella said the problem isn’t serious. Lilly is rehabbing from arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder, which he had in November. He was to make two more Minor League starts before given the go-ahead to join the Cubs’ rotation in mid April.
“This is not a setback,” Piniella said of Lilly’s back soreness.
The lefty last pitched Sunday in Mesa, Ariz., in the Cubs’ Minor League camp, throwing 67 pitches over 5 2/3 innings. cubs.com.
It’s good to hear that no one believes this is a setback, and that Lilly is still on schedule to throw two Minor League rehab starts before rejoining the Cubs. We’ll be watching those starts very closely.