Jose Quintana has been out since Summer Camp opened up earlier this month. A home accident left him with a sliced pitching thumb, and required surgery to repair a nerve. The hope was that he could start throwing within a couple weeks if things healed well, but it was one of those weird situations where no one really knew much of anything until then.
We’re coming up on a couple weeks, and Cubs Pitching Coach Tommy Hottovy offered a modest update on the lefty:
Pitching coach Tommy Hottovy said everything he's heard suggests Jose Quintana (left thumb) is still on track to start throwing late this week. Quintana has been able to keep up with the shoulder program, upper body strength, Hottovy said.
— Maddie Lee (@maddie_m_lee) July 13, 2020
That would obviously be great news if Quintana can start throwing already, and it’s conceivable he could get his arm into game shape within a few weeks. That would be just a couple weeks into the regular season. But what we still can’t know is whether his effectiveness will be compromised by the injury and/or the erratic process of this year (for which he now has an added layer of weirdness).
I am happy to see the good update, and I’ll be happy to see when Quintana is throwing. The Cubs have big questions on their starting pitching depth. That said, I still think you have to operate on the presumption that Alec Mills is gonna make more starts for the Cubs this year than Quintana. It’s a bummer, but the season is so very short, and it starts next week. A sliced pitching thumb that required surgery – it’s just the kind of thing that’s hard for me to mentally shake it off.
Unrelated-but-related, today is an anniversary:
#Cubs today acquired LHP José Quintana from the #WhiteSox for OF Eloy Jimenez, RHP Dylan Cease, and INFs Matt Rose and Bryant Flete. pic.twitter.com/R8E9u9anls
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) July 13, 2017