Well all right. Like I said earlier, I was hoping we would find out soon about a Wade Miley rehab start, and boom there it is.
Per multiple reports, Miley will start tomorrow for the Iowa Cubs. The 35-year-old lefty was a big-ish acquisition for the Cubs at the outset of the offseason via waiver claim, and is a necessary part of the rotation if the Cubs are going to have any hope of competing.
Miley felt a little discomfort in his elbow in Spring Training (officially dubbed inflammation), and with the shortened period, the Cubs slowed him back down, and took a very deliberate approach to getting him ready for the season. We’ll find out tomorrow just how stretched out he is for the purposes of game action (I would guess 50 pitches/3.0 innings is the max), and whether this is a one-and-done rehab start, or if there will be multiple. It could depend on how he looks and feels.
In the four partial seasons since Miley figured out his cutter, he’s posted a 3.53 ERA (20% better than league average) and 4.14 FIP (6% better than league average) over 425.1 innings.