NEW YORK – For the Cubs, Monday was a good injury news day, a nice change of pace for a team that has key contributors in all phases of the game on the injured list.
The team is targeting “later this week,” for veteran right-hander Kyle Hendricks (low back strain) to make his first rehab start since landing on the 15-day IL last week, manager Craig Counsell said. Hendricks progressed to throwing off a mound on Saturday, and that phase of his rehab process has gone well.
In his rehab stint, Hendricks will also be working to address the mechanical, execution and pitch-usage issues that plagued his rough start to the season, as he amassed a 12.00 ERA in five starts. His headway in those areas will also factor into how long his rehab assignment lasts.
Left Justin Steele, on the other hand, was throwing well when he strained his hamstring in his Opening Day start. Steele is set to throw 60 to 65 pitches in a rehab game with Triple-A Iowa on Wednesday, and after that, “it’s possible” that his next start could be with the major-league team, Counsell said.
“We’re going to see how Wednesday goes,” Counsell said. “So, Wednesday is a big day, for sure. And then we’ll make the plan after Wednesday, essentially.”
On the other side of the ball, slugger Seiya Suzuki (strained right oblique) joined the team in New York, after remaining in Chicago for the Boston portion of the road trip. He’s been ramping up baseball activities and went through what Counsell called some “harder workouts” on Saturday and Sunday. Monday was a recovery day for Suzuki.
Counsell said it was “a little soon,” to be talking about a rehab assignment for Suzuki.
“We’ve got to clear some steps to point to a day there,” Counsell said.