Another one. Another bad injury for the Cubs on the positional side. This is getting absurd.
Sliding into second base on a would-be double-play ball, David Bote slide past second base, with an awkward strain on his left shoulder, and then boom, instant pain.
Bote was assisted by the trainers, and his left shoulder was being held as he exited the field. I won’t speculate on the specific injury until we hear more, but it’s clear it was the left shoulder, and the pain was substantial. Bote will probably have to be IL’d, and who knows for how long.
The Cubs’ available depth, as we’ve discussed, is non-existent. To bring someone up to replace Bote, they will have to make a 40-man roster move, which means either DFA’ing a pitcher they don’t want to lose, or moving someone on the 10-day Injured List to the 60-day Injured List, and I don’t know if anyone is truly eligible for that kind of move (unless Bote, himself, is so injured that the Cubs immediately know it’ll be at least 60 days that he’s out). The alternative would be activating someone like Jason Heyward from the IL if he’s ready to go, but no real word on that. The Cubs are already playing a man down with Anthony Rizzo (back) probably injured enough for the IL, but the Cubs hoping not to have to make a roster move.
The Cubs are already without Rizzo, Heyward, Jake Marisnick, Matt Duffy, and Nico Hoerner. Back-up catcher Austin Romine is also already on the 60-day IL. There is no one else on the 40-man roster on the positional side except for Double-A prospects Miguel Amaya (catcher) and Christopher Morel (utility), neither of whom is close to big league ready, absent an absolute emergency. Which. Well …
That is all to say, if the Bote injury, itself, weren’t bad enough, the roster implications are – once again – a nightmare. This sucks. UPDATE: separated shoulder. Sigh.
Guys, the Bote injury is really bad. #Cubs #CubTogether @BleacherNation @realcubsinsider pic.twitter.com/v4DnKDjQHN
— MBDChicago (@MBDChicago) May 29, 2021