As tentatively expected yesterday, and then extremely expected once the lineup came out today, Addison Russell is headed to the disabled list.
Addison Russell heads to the DL with a sprained left middle finger. Right shoulder is barking too, but the finger is the official reason he's shelved for now. Daniel Murphy active and leading off.
— Sahadev Sharma (@sahadevsharma) August 22, 2018
Russell first injured the finger on a swing back on June 3, missed minimal time, and came back fine. But then he re-injured it on July 1, and, man, he completely fell off a cliff at the plate from that moment on.
There’s little question it’s been bothering him at the plate, but, because he was still able to swing and play defense, the Cubs opted to keep him on the roster. With Daniel Murphy arriving, and with other wear and tear necessitating a rest, Russell can go on the disabled list.
With rosters expanding to the full 40-man in 10 days, you can generally expect Russell to return at some point around then, if he’s feeling better. If not, I suppose we’ll see what happens.