No one will spill any tears for the Cubs, and every team deals with injuries. This will not be *the* story of the 2019 Cubs. But man alive, they sure have had a lot of injuries to important players.
The latest – well, it didn’t just happen, we only just got word – is reliever Brandon Kintzler, who has appeared just three times this month, and not at all in a week.
Brandon Kintzler has been nursing a little something on his side/oblique. Hoping to be back soon.
— Jesse Rogers (@ESPNChiCubs) September 17, 2019
Maddon said postgame that Brandon Kintzler is dealing with a mild left oblique issue. Has been throwing, but not ready to return to games yet.
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) September 17, 2019
Cool, cool, cool.
To their credit, as we discussed in the Bullets, the Cubs’ bullpen has been excellent this month despite the injuries, posting the best ERA in the NL. Ideally, Kintzler would be back and fully healthy/effective soon, but the success of so many other relievers this month has perhaps given the Cubs the opportunity to proceed very cautiously with Kintzler.
The 35-year-old righty has bounced back from an ugly 2018 to a 2.82 ERA over 54.1 innings this year. For long stretches, he was easily the Cubs’ most consistently effective reliever.