The last 10 days have been a dang nightmare of injuries for the Cubs, from Ian Happ and Nico Hoerner, to Javy Báez, to Jason Heyward, to Jake Marisnick, to even Jake Arrieta and Dan Winkler. Just so many injuries.
But this would be the scariest of all, as Kris Bryant has left tonight’s game early. No one yet knows why, but after playing the field in the 5th inning, he did not come back out to play the field in the 6th.
More soon.
UPDATE: Jesse Rogers seems to have heard it was an allergies/illness kind of thing, rather than an injury (please be right):
Don't think it's an injury, per se. Illness or allergies or something of that nature but Cubs haven't announced anything yet. https://t.co/ZDGLf1EJuQ
— Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) May 12, 2021
UPDATE 2: Officially, from the Cubs:
Cubs say Kris Bryant is "under the weather" and was removed as a result.
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) May 12, 2021
I will TOTALLY take an unspecified “he didn’t feel too good” compared to some tweak on a swing or something. Hopefully he feels better soon, and passes any required testing or protocols. The rub, short-term, is that the Cubs are already playing short-handed, so if Bryant has to sit tomorrow, it could be really tight.
UPDATE 3: A little more specificity from David Ross:
Ross said Kris Bryant was dealing with some "sinus stuff" and minor breathing issues for a couple innings Tuesday night. Cubs are hoping he'll be fine soon
— Tony Andracki (@TonyAndracki23) May 12, 2021
Of note, if the symptoms were deemed potential COVID symptoms, the Cubs would be able to put Bryant on the COVID-related IL for any length of time (for example, just Wednesday’s game), and would be able to call up an outfielder *without* putting that player on the 40-man roster, which would otherwise be an issue. We’ll see if the Cubs do anything on that front.