NEWSLETTER
Shortly after recording his fourth hit of the night and helping the Cubs build out an 11-8 lead in the 5th inning … Dansby Swanson left the game. Nico Hoerner shifted to shortstop and Nick Madrigal entered to play second base.
I re-watched Swanson’s fifth inning hit, and his run from first to second on an Ian Happ grounder, but I didn’t see anything look bad.
There’s no word yet on why Swanson exited, but these things are never great news. So stay tuned.
UPDATE: All right, so this is when it happened:
That’s obviously very concerning, because you know Swanson isn’t pulling himself unless something felt very off with that throw. I’m just over here praying that it’s something relatively minor, but Swanson is a smart veteran player who knows his body, and knows he needs to shut it down immediately to prevent a serious injury.
UPDATE 2: Not what you want to hear:
Anything on the side – however euphemistically described – makes you think of the oblique. And, given the recency of Seiya Suzuki’s oblique strain, you’re probably well-schooled on how long that can keep a guy out. All we can do now is hope it isn’t an actual strain (and if it is, let it be the mildest of the mild). Even still, the Cubs have GOT TO play it cautious with anything that could implicate the core, and I expect Swanson to be sitting tomorrow and perhaps longer. An IL stint is probably more likely than not, but I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself tonight.
UPDATE: Here’s hoping this is right, and also here’s hoping Mallory Swanson’s surgery went well:
Update: Good(ish) news from the man, himself – at least, relative to what it could have been.
