Cubs Injury Updates: Suzuki, Madrigal, Smyly, Stroman, Miley, More

A flurry of pre-game injury updates from the Chicago Cubs, and it looks like a lot of things are trending in the right direction.

From the beats

https://twitter.com/MLBastian/status/1541883114175225858

So, there’s a LOT to unpack there. Thoughts:

  • On Suzuki, it’s exactly what we hoped this morning. If he can get through another round of live BP feeling good, we could see him out on a rehab assignment later this week. That would be swell, all things considered. (Don’t say swell!)
  • Marcus Stroman and Drew Smyly both throwing a couple innings of live BP, and you wonder if they are getting close to rehab assignments, too. A pre-All-Star break return for one or both does seem possible at this point. Then again, you kinda have to keep checking in after they throw and make sure they recover well (i.e., how do they feel tomorrow after this latest session?).
  • Great to hear that Wade Miley is starting to play catch. Given that the shoulder issue popped right back up as soon as he returned to the big leagues, I’m thinking it’ll be a very deliberate rehab this time (heck, it has been already). I wouldn’t expect him to be back with the big league team until the second half of July at the earliest (and you can kinda work backwards from there on the recovery timeline, since we know the Cubs’ highest priority is going to be getting Miley healthy for at least a couple pre-Trade Deadline starts).
  • If Jason Heyward’s knee is sufficiently bad that he missed the last two days and is going to miss another couple before he’s even re-evaluated, why not put him on the IL? Maybe the Cubs don’t want to force another roster move, but it seems silly to just play a man down for four or five days. Then again, the Cubs have done a lot of silly things when it comes to Jason Heyward.
  • Nick Madrigal hitting live BP is a good sign, and here’s hoping he is also getting close to a rehab assignment that will last a good long while at Iowa so he can get a whole lotta low-pressure at bats. The Cubs want him to get right overall, not JUST get healthy.
  • written by

    Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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