Although Codi Heuer got back into competitive game action at Triple-A Iowa sooner than many were expecting, that doesn’t necessarily mean he is going to return to the big league team sooner than many were expecting.
That is to say, when Heuer had a more involved version of Tommy John surgery last March, it was expected that he could miss more time than your usual TJS patient, which is in that 12 to 15-month range. So, cautiously back then, we were thinking Heuer might not be back with the big league team until July or August of 2023.
But then Heuer’s rehab seemed to go relatively smoothly and quickly, and he was out on his rehab assignment with Iowa at the start of May. That was awesome, and left open the possibility that Heuer could be back with the big league team as soon as early June.
Ah, but that has not happened, despite Heuer throwing 11 times at Iowa already. Even for a Tommy John rehab, that’s a lot. So what’s going on, and why isn’t Heuer ready to return to the big league Cubs? Easy: you can’t predict these things perfectly, and nobody wants Heuer to come back up and struggle immediately just because he’s “healthy.”
From Cubs President Jed Hoyer, via The Athletic:
“The velocity’s been there, but we want to make sure he’s really right when he comes up,” Hoyer said. “Tommy John rehabs are fickle things. There are ups and downs when you go through it. Right now, he’s not in a place where we felt like it was the right time to call him up. But that could happen quickly. There’s no doubt he’s going to help us.”
Overall, even as Codi Heuer has pitched with upper-90s velocity at Iowa, it’s clear the control wasn’t quite locked in. He currently sports a 9.00 ERA, a 25.5% K rate, and 17.0% BB rate. The Cubs aren’t “one reliever away” anyway, but that certainly wouldn’t be the case if Heuer was pitching like that. So why push the guy into a spot where it could hurt both him and the big league team?
That said, it would be nice if Heuer DID get it all together sooner rather than later, because the Cubs DO need some help in the bullpen. If and when Heuer is right, he should be among the team’s better relievers.
The trend lines lately seem to be improving (5.06 ERA, 27.3% K, 9.1% BB over his last five outings). Hopefully that continues, and then, as Hoyer said, the Cubs can bring him back quickly thereafter.