NEWSLETTER
Huge lefty reliever Brad Wieck has been away from Chicago Cubs camp this spring, and obviously has yet to make an appearance in a Spring Training game.
Now we know why, and it’s scary stuff:
Press release on Brad Wieck, who underwent a cardiac ablation at NMH in Chicago on Monday. Came back to AZ yesterday, will have a week off and then decision will be made when he will start throwing again. pic.twitter.com/euoZXcE9DM
— Sahadev Sharma (@sahadevsharma) February 27, 2020
First of all, thank God for the pre-spring physical, because an abnormal heartbeat can otherwise be hard to detect and *can* be dangerous. Second of all, thank God it’s a very treatable thing, and if all went well, Wieck should be OK.
Whew.
That’s the really important stuff, so now on to the less important stuff. The baseball stuff.
Ultimately, Wieck should recover fine from this procedure and pitch normally, though his ramp-up timeline for the season will obviously be impacted here. Even if he starts throwing normally late next week, he’s unlikely to be an option for the Opening Day bullpen. Given what he flashed late last year, you want him in that bullpen if he’s healthy and pitching like that, but he does have a minor league option remaining – lots of guys competing for the bullpen do not – so it was not a lock that he was going to make the pen anyway right away. It’s possible he’d be optioned to Iowa to open the season, or it’s possible now that he’ll open on the Injured List.
We’ll see how things proceed throughout March as he begins throwing. For now, mostly I’m just relieved to hear that this was a treatable thing, and he’s very likely to be OK. The pitching stuff will come when it comes.
