Chicago Cubs starter Andrew Cashner (and noted top young pitcher) left today’s game after just 5.1 innings and 72 pitches with what the Cubs are calling “shoulder tightness.” In his final, sixth inning pitch, something was visibly wrong with Cashner’s delivery – that is not to say he was visibly uncomfortable, but something was off.
Obviously there are a million reasons for overreaction and concern, but allow me to offer a few reasons for temperance: (1) Cashner is a young guy, so the Cubs are going to be overly cautious; (2) it’s his first start of the season (after a year as a reliever), so the Cubs are going to be overly cautious; (3) Cashner was not fully stretched out in Spring, so he was unlikely to throw too many more pitches anyway; (4) “tightness” is not uncommon early in the season; and (5) with the off-day on Thursday, the Cubs can skip Cashner’s next turn in the rotation (which they may have opted to do anyway, to keep his season-long pitch total down).
Obviously we’ll have more as more comes out.