NEWSLETTER
The biggest and best injury update today is Seiya Suzuki’s return to the Cubs starting lineup. He’s not just back in the batting order, he’s actually scheduled to start in right field. If there was even a question about the stability of his sore ankle, he would’ve – at least – started at DH, if not sat out again altogether. So I think that’s very good news. Oh, and remember, Suzuki had just started demonstrating an adjustment back against the league’s adjustment before he was injured. Hopefully that continues right away.
But it’s not the only good news!
https://twitter.com/MLBastian/status/1525579426703912960?s=20&t=_nJY3NHnqryqcCIvKkA__g
Justin Steele, who was removed from last Sunday’s game with left-thumb soreness, is already back and planning to start in the finale against Arizona tomorrow! That prevents the Cubs from having to roll with yet another opener/bullpen game, and it gets Steele back on the mound where we can continue to monitoring his progress and potential usage in the future. Steele has flashed the requisite skillset to be a big league starter this season, and I’d like to see him continue that journey.
Meanwhile, Nico Hoerner is somehow already starting light baseball activities, which is moderately surprising and plenty optimistic. I’m a chronic ankle sprainer, myself, and I usually am not so quickly moving around after one of the bad ones. There’s still no timeline for his return, but given how good he’s looked in the field (and at the plate) – and how important he is to this team at shortstop – I’ll take the good news and ask no more questions.
In the bullpen, Sean Newcomb and Ethan Roberts are both throwing again, though there aren’t any updates on Marcus Stroman or David Robertson (COVID-IL), from what I’ve seen.
