Brandon Morrow’s MRI Revealed “Stuff in There,” But the Hope is That This is a Short-Term Injury

It’s a good thing the bullpen was well-rested coming out of the break, because they were forced to cover 4.1 innings at Wrigley Field last night, after Kyle Hendricks exited early against the Cardinals – and they still have 11 games to play over the next 10 days. Fun!

At least the Cubs picked up some reliever depth in trade last night, but it’s still gonna sting being without their closer.

That’s because the bad news dropped before yesterday’s game: Brandon Morrow hit the 10-day disabled list (backdated to July 16) with biceps inflammation. Apparently Morrow has been feel the discomfort for a while, and his arm failed to “bounce back” quickly after his last two outings. In fact, according to Jesse Rogers, Morrow asked for the first two days off in San Francisco – the series before the series before the break – but still still felt pain into the final series of the first half, eventually experiencing a drop in velocity on Sunday, and ultimately leading to the DL.

And yet, neither Morrow nor the Cubs seem to be particularly concerned with the injury, but I can’t say I’m doing my best cucumber impression right now. Not after tweets like this:

“Stuff in there” is a wonderful phrase when paired with a donut or a Hostess cupcake, but it’s not what you want to hear after a pitcher gets an MRI on his arm. It lets your mind wander into a thousand different directions, but for what it’s worth, Joe Maddon doesn’t expect him to miss much time, Brandon Morrow doesn’t expect to be out long. Maybe the “stuff” was just the inflammation.

Ideally, this quote from Maddon – “We thought it was the right time to back off for the latter part of the season” – is more telling than anything, and this is just the Cubs being extremely cautious with someone who’ll be crucial to their postseason plans.

[Brett: In full fairness, we do have to add that, at this time of year, with trade talks ongoing and the deadline approaching, the Cubs would be particularly incentivized to be publicly optimistic about Morrow’s injury. That’s not to say they aren’t also correct! It’s just that, well, they’re not going to be out there sounding the alarms about their closer less than two weeks before the Trade Deadline unless it was obvious to everyone already (i.e., surgery) that he was completely broken. There’s no need right now to be anything publicly other than positive about a swift return.]

Here’s Morrow discussing his injury, what led up to it, how he’s feeling, the plan going forward, and much more after last night’s game:

Aside from the relatively reassuring nature of his comments, the big takeaways from this are that 1) his rehab process will be exclusively about rest (i.e. no surgery or anything worse is expected, 2) he’ll be re-evaluated on Sunday “when the doctor comes in,” and 3) he’s never experienced this particular injury in this spot before. “Yeah, this is a new one, but [it’s] manageable.”

Morrow was on the disabled list earlier this season (lower back tightness), but has otherwise been an absolute stud for the Cubs this season, completing 22 of 24 saves, and doing it as quickly and stresslessly as possible.

The front office was already searching for some back-end-ish relief help, but with a second DL stint on the books for Morrow already, you can bet they’re looking harder now.

Morrow is eligible to come off the disabled list for the final game of the Arizona Diamondbacks series at Wrigley Field. Whether that’s realistic or not is probably unknown to everyone at this point. It’s just going to depend on how he feels in the coming days.

written by

Michael Cerami began covering the Chicago Cubs for Bleacher Nation as a part-time contributor in 2015. One year later, he joined Bleacher Nation full-time, covering the Chicago Cubs and Major League Baseball. Today, Michael runs Bleacher Nation, contributing as a writer (Cubs, MLB) and an editor for all sections of the site, including the Chicago Bears, Bulls, and Blackhawks, as well as MLB, NBA, NHL, and NFL. In 2019, Michael was the co-host of NBC Sports Chicago's Cubs Post-Game Show Outside the Ivy. You can find him on Twitter/X @Michael_Cerami

more cubs news

Wrigley Field is Gonna Be Lit This Year (As in New Colored Lights!)

Last year, the Cubs started using their new LED outfield lights to do a little dancing display during 'Go Cubs Go,' lighting along with the song and throwing in a W. It was very fun and I liked it. This...

The 2024 Chicago Cubs for Dummies

Boom. We made it. The offseason is over, and the Cubs regular season - and those elevated expectations - begins tomorrow. But in case you slept through the winter, I'm here to catch you up on everything you need to...

Why Craig Counsell Wanted Miles Mastrobuoni on the Cubs’ Bench

I don't know why Miles Mastrobuoni bugs some folks, but it's probably heavily-weighted toward his small-sample, bad-batted-ball-luck start last year, and that time he didn't dive while playing in right field. It can be hard to shake initial impressions, I...

Kinda Sounds Like Craig Counsell May Have a Set Top Three in the Batting Order

New Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell has said, generally, his batting order philosophy is the very simplistic (and very correct): just get your best hitters the most at bats. Sure, there's some play in that to set up good match-ups,...

Los Angeles Dodgers Signing Will Smith to a TEN-YEAR Extension

The Los Angeles Dodgers have done it again. And by it, I mean they have signed a funkily-structured contract that is going to leave some folks annoyed. The Dodgers are extending catcher Will Smith on a DECADE-long deal with a...

The Stretch: 2024 MLB Season Preview

On Monday, during a team-building conversation with some of the Bleacher Nation and Betsperts Media Group folks, we discussed sports—shocking, I know—and Brian Twining asked the group what their favorite sport was. For me, it's baseball. There's no debate. I...

We Have to Talk About Some of the “Deals” the Cubs Sat Out in Free Agency

This week, in a conversation with Jon Greenberg at The Athletic, Cubs President Jed Hoyer made an honest and sober (but also moderately disappointing) admission about the 2024 Chicago Cubs: "We need to perform probably at or a little bit...

The Chicago Cubs Are Reportedly Now Worth Over $5 Billion

Given all the tumult in the baseball broadcasting world, and the uncertain future for that portion of revenues, you'd be forgiven for expecting that MLB franchise valuations would slow their recent surge. But, according to Sportico at least, you'd be...

Reds Second Baseman Matt McLain Had Shoulder Surgery

The injury to Matt McLain's shoulder issue obviously wound up being worse than he and the Cincinnati Reds had been hoping. The damage to his left (non-throwing) labrum ultimately required surgery: https://twitter.com/m_sheldon/status/1772993402604339478 When the hope is that a guy can...

Cubs Actually Getting a Whole Lot of Votes to Win the NL Central

ESPN dropped its big season preview, and included were a set of divisional predictions by way of their writers, editors, and analysts voting. There's nothing in the way of proof or certainty there, but with 26 voters, I do like...

Latest News

Celtics vs. Hawks Predictions, Best Bets and Odds – Thursday, March 28, 2024

The Atlanta Hawks (33-39) are big, 17.5-point underdogs as they attempt to build on a three-game winning streak when they host the Boston Celtics (57-15) on Thursday, March 28, 2024 at State Farm Arena. The contest airs at 7:30 PM...

Bucks vs. Pelicans Predictions, Best Bets and Odds – Thursday, March 28, 2024

The New Orleans Pelicans (44-28) are only 2-point underdogs against the Milwaukee Bucks (46-26) at Smoothie King Center on Thursday, March 28, 2024. The game begins at 8:00 PM ET on NBA. The matchup's point total is 223.If you are...

How to Watch Indiana State Sycamores vs. Utah Utes: Live Stream or on TV

The Indiana State Sycamores (31-6) will attempt to build on a three-game winning streak when they host the Utah Utes (22-14) on April 2, 2024. The Utes have also won three games in a row.Indiana State won its most recent...

How to Watch Seton Hall Pirates vs. Georgia Bulldogs: Live Stream or on TV

The Seton Hall Pirates (23-12) will attempt to extend a three-game win streak when they host the Georgia Bulldogs (20-16) on April 2, 2024. The Bulldogs have also won three games in a row.In its previous game, Seton Hall beat...

Diamondbacks vs. Rockies: Free Live Stream, TV Channel, How to Watch

Corbin Carroll and the Arizona Diamondbacks take on Nolan Jones and the Colorado Rockies in their season opener on Thursday, with first pitch at 10:10 PM ET.Keep scrolling to find out all the details on how to watch Arizona take...

Mariners vs. Red Sox: Free Live Stream, TV Channel, How to Watch

In their season opener on Thursday, Julio Rodriguez and the Seattle Mariners play Rafael Devers and the Boston Red Sox, with first pitch scheduled for 10:10 PM ET at T-Mobile Park.Keep reading to see how to watch the Seattle-Boston matchup...

How to Watch Guardians vs. Athletics: Live Stream or on TV

Jose Ramirez and the Cleveland Guardians take on Brent Rooker and the Oakland Athletics in their season opener on Thursday, with first pitch at 10:07 PM ET.Find out how to watch the Cleveland-Oakland matchup below.When is Guardians vs. Athletics and...

Senators vs. Blackhawks Prediction: Picks, Live Odds and Moneyline – Thursday, March 28, 2024

The bookmakers like the Ottawa Senators to defeat the Chicago Blackhawks in their matchup on Thursday, March 28, with the Senators given moneyline odds of -198 at home, and the Blackhawks at +164.Senators vs. Blackhawks Favorite, Moneyline, TotalFavorite: Senators (-198)Underdog:...

Wrigley Field is Gonna Be Lit This Year (As in New Colored Lights!)

Last year, the Cubs started using their new LED outfield lights to do a little dancing display during 'Go Cubs Go,' lighting along with the song and throwing in a W. It was very fun and I liked it. This...

Victor Wembanyama Player Props: Three-Pointer Props and Odds vs. the Jazz – Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Will Victor Wembanyama connect on three 3-pointers when the San Antonio Spurs play the Utah Jazz on Wednesday at 9:00 PM ET? If so, he'll beat his prop for the game.Victor Wembanyama's Three-Pointer Prop Odds vs. the JazzVictor Wembanyama's over/under...

more cubs news