A couple stray notes for your Spring Training Saturday …
Nick Madrigal’s leg “fatigue” doesn’t sound too serious if he’s going to be playing in a game tomorrow. It’s not actually his surgically-repaired hamstring, but instead is his glute/lower-back:
Nick Madrigal described yesterday's leg fatigue as "tightness" in his glute, maybe lower back, not where his hamstring was repaired.Said he told the team he could play, but they wanted to be cautious.
Expected to go through whole workout today, play in minor-leauge game tomorrow— Maddie Lee (@maddie_m_lee) April 2, 2022
That is not to say the issues aren’t potentially related, as the body does its compensation thing whenever you have an injury from which you’re recovering/recovered. It bears monitoring, and physically, he’s probably just going to have to be managed carefully this year.
The news is similarly positive on Wade Miley (elbow), but he’s still gonna be out for a while:
Wade Miley says he's had elbow inflammation before & typically goes away on its own with rest. But w/short spring, no time for 2-3 days down so didn't improve & got worse.
"I probably could go pitch but it just doesn't make sense to deal with that and affect other things." #Cubs
— Meghan Montemurro (@M_Montemurro) April 2, 2022
Miley is shut down for 10 days, after which the inflammation will hopefully have subsided, and then he can begin to ramp back up. He would potentially be able to pitch in late-April/early-May.
And lastly, no surprise: Kyle Hendricks gets his third straight Opening Day start.
For the third year in a row, Kyle Hendricks has been named the Cubs’ Opening Day starter. pic.twitter.com/5Fx0TmSXsU
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) April 2, 2022
https://twitter.com/WatchMarquee/status/1510292886574805001