Another week, another I’m-sick intro to the Bullets. Before marrying a teacher or having kids, I could go years – literally years – without having a time where I was sure I had some kind of sickness. Now I can’t got two weeks. It’s ridiculous. Worse, back in the pre-marriage-pre-kids days, on the rare occasion that I was sick, I could just sit around in pjs and watch TV to recover for a few days. Now, no dice. That said, my efforts today and tomorrow will probably reflect the fact that I feel like there is a very large man trying to claw his way out of my sinuses.
In case you missed it, David DeJesus jacked his shoulder last night running into the wall at Citi Field. There are no breaks, but he’s got a shoulder sprain with some swelling. He’ll go on the disabled list today, and the Cubs will do an MRI next week when the swelling goes down, which will better determine the extent of the injury. From the sound of things, three to four weeks would probably be a very good outcome at this point.
No corresponding move has been announced, but it seems safe to say the Cubs will make a move before today’s game. Dale Sveum actually mentioned possibly bringing up a reliever to replace DeJesus’s roster spot, which could make some sense, given that the Cubs already had six outfielders on the roster. On the other hand, the Cubs have just one back-up infielder right now (Cody Ransom). The 40-man options are thin, because they consist mainly of young players you wouldn’t really want to call up to sit on the bench when they could be getting consistent playing time in the minors. With Shawn Camp possibly approaching a return to the roster, the Cubs may just shuffle someone up to fill the gap.
Or maybe Steve Clevenger, who is rehabbing in Iowa, will be ready to return soon?
The Cubs say Ian Stewart’s suspension is for 10 games, which he and the Players Association are now appealing. At about $11,000 per game in salary, the suspension could cost Stewart over $100,000. The Cubs probably picked a suspension length for as long as they could justify, and will now use that as a part of the negotiations that are presumably ongoing about Stewart’s release. If the Cubs save $50,000 that they otherwise would have had to pay Stewart to sit on the bench in Iowa, I suppose that’s a win – because we know no other team was going to pick him up on a Major League deal and defray any of that salary.
Edwin Jackson offers the most unintentionally sad quote ever about his start last night, per Cubs.com: “More times than not, it’s going to be close games and you’ve got to pitch mistake-free or pretty close to it. When you come out and get an offensive explosion like we did tonight, it’s definitely great.”
Cubs GM Jed Hoyer deflected questions about the Cubs picking a positional player at the top of the Draft last week, rather than taking big-time pitching prospect Jonathan Gray. Hoyer reiterated, per CSN, that positional players at the top of the Draft tend to have more success/stability, and the best way to attack a lack of pitching in your system is through volume.
Well, he still can’t get into the States (visa issues), but pitching prospect Juan Carlos Paniagua is at least getting in work. He started yesterday for the Cubs in the Dominican Summer League. Thanks to @Mkatz319 on Twitter, and Dynasty in the comments, for the heads up.
Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here.
Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.
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NEWSLETTER
Another week, another I’m-sick intro to the Bullets. Before marrying a teacher or having kids, I could go years – literally years – without having a time where I was sure I had some kind of sickness. Now I can’t got two weeks. It’s ridiculous. Worse, back in the pre-marriage-pre-kids days, on the rare occasion that I was sick, I could just sit around in pjs and watch TV to recover for a few days. Now, no dice. That said, my efforts today and tomorrow will probably reflect the fact that I feel like there is a very large man trying to claw his way out of my sinuses.
