All right. This is good. Been waiting on a next-steps update on Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki, who has mostly been resting his moderate oblique strain. Today we got that update from manager David Ross, and it sounds positive to me.
Playing catch and starting to swing:
The swings – even dry swings – are an important step in this process. See how the rotation (with a littttle bit of force behind it) feels. And then how it feels the next day. You have to do this process in a very steady, methodical, piece by piece way, because we know that obliques are prone to re-injury (and also, you can’t be out there tentative with your swing). Hopefully the dry/non-contact swings will feel OK for Suzuki, and then he’ll wake up the next day still feeling pain-free.
It remains the expectation that Suzuki could not return to big league game action until late April at the very earliest. But for even that to happen, he’s gotta hit all these checkpoints. So, for today, I like this update.