NEWSLETTER
It was reasonably clear from the play today that David Bote’s shoulder had ceased to be structured in a typical way. But I try to wait for the official word from the team to share the news. Post-game, the team confirmed that, yup, that was a separated shoulder.
A separated shoulder, which is distinct from a dislocated shoulder (but not necessarily better for baseballing), means there was damage to the ligaments that previously held Bote’s shoulder blade to his collar bone. How severe that damage is will be evaluated in the coming days, and it won’t be until that’s determined that we could put any kind of rough timeline on his return.
It’s possible it won’t be *that* bad and you might be talking about six to eight weeks. It’s possible it’ll be really bad and will require surgery, and you’ll start wondering whether he comes back this year at all. Either way, it’s going to be a long time before we see Bote back out there, and that sucks. It sucks in isolation, and it sucks even more against the backdrop of a positional group already decimated by injury. Hopefully it’s a reasonably paced full recovery for Bote, and maybe we see him again in August. That might be your best case scenario as we sit here today – but again, more evaluation and information coming in the next few days.
It’s hardly a silver lining, but if Bote’s expected timeline is in that two month range, at least, then you no longer have to worry about the 40-man roster implications of IL’ing him. He could go right on the 60-day IL, which takes him off the 40-man roster, and would allow the Cubs to add someone like Sergio Alcantara or Dee Strange-Gordon. I’m not sure that happens as soon as tomorrow’s game, but I do expect the Cubs will be trying to evaluate Bote’s expected absence as quickly as possible.
Note that the concern you might have with Alcantara (no options left) is that you’d add him, bring him up, and then not be able to send him back to the minors without passing him through waivers. You kinda don’t want him to come up until you know he’s going to be around for a long time. So, then, I wouldn’t be shocked if someone else gets the call first, not unlike when the Cubs brought up Rafael Ortega and Patrick Wisdom first last week.
As for the infield, I mean, yeesh. You could finally see Kris Bryant starting at third base again now, with Eric Sogard getting most of the starts at second base? That would especially be the case if Jason Heyward and/or Jake Marisnick were the first of the hammy/back injury group to return. As long as Anthony Rizzo and Matt Duffy are out, there will be plenty of starts available for Patrick Wisdom, too. My head is spinning a bit from all the injuries.
Ditto David Ross:
Separated left shoulder for Bote, so it will be a long IL stint. Ross on slew of injuries: "I've never dealt with anything like this."
— Paul Sullivan (@PWSullivan) May 29, 2021
