The Cubs are indeed placing starter Kyle Hendricks on the Injured List today with that sore shoulder, even as David Ross said there hasn’t yet been an MRI.
The Cubs know either way Hendricks is going to need that rest, and the hope is that he’ll be recovered (again) by the time the All-Star break concludes. That would give Hendricks a few starts before the Trade Deadline, though I remain of the mind that a trade was always very unlikely regardless of the shoulder. Still, I would understand if the Cubs wanted to at least have the option.
Double-A starter Anderson Espinoza is back up to the big league team as the emergency-depth-already-on-the-40-man guy, and he will probably be limited to mop-up duty. Interesting to note: Espinoza’s last outing at Tennessee was his first relief outing of the year. Are the Cubs finally making that conversion?
Last time up, Espinoza flashed big league stuff, but inconsistent command and a relatively limited arsenal (i.e., the reliever package).
