With Seiya Suzuki officially arriving today and joining the Chicago Cubs, a 40-man roster spot was needed, and the Cubs took the most obvious path: Adbert Alzolay heads to the 60-day IL. That removes him from the 40-man roster for now, and he will be ineligible to return to the Cubs until late May at the earliest.
Which is not to say we expect him back that soon. With a strained lat that required a PRP injection, which will help the area heal over the course of the next month. From there, it would be all about a very cautious process of building back up. If we’re lucky, it would be as if he were starting the period before Spring Training at that point, so maybe you could hope for about eight weeks from there? Maybe late June for his return, probably in a relief role?
I am just trying to give you a rough idea of the optimistic timeline. Because it’s the same lat he’s strained before, and because that one cost him most of a season, I tend to think the optimistic timeline is probably too optimistic. If Alzolay can pitch in the second half of the season this year, that’s probably a win.
Meanwhile, Suzuki is officially in the door, and the Cubs do still have a few more players to accommodate on the 40-man roster, with probably only one more 60-day IL move available (David Bote). So more roster moves are on the way, and soon.