BOSTON – The Cubs face a new injury hurdle, putting lefty Jordan Wicks in the 15-day injured list with what they called a strained left forearm on Sunday.
They have three pitchers who were part of the Opening Day rotation on the IL, with Wicks joining lefty Justin Steele (strained left hamstring) and veteran right-hander Kyle Hendricks (strained low back).
“You want your best players out there, there’s no question about it,” manager Craig Counsell said before the Cubs’ series finale against the Red Sox on Sunday. “But we have to look at it as, these are opportunities.”
Right-hander Hayden Wesneski took Wicks’ place as the starter Sunday.
The Cubs also made a series of bullpen moves, optioning rookie Luke Little to Triple-A Iowa, recalling young right-hander Daniel Palencia, and selecting the contract of lefty Richard Lovelady, who they signed to a minor-league deal this past offseason.
The Cubs backdated Wicks’ placement on the IL to Thursday. So, he’ll be eligible to return as early as May 10. His timeline will depend on how he responds to treatment.
“We just wanted to be precautionary this early in the season,” Wicks said. “I feel like there’s no reason to push it or put anything unnecessarily at risk. Obviously, extremely frustrated that we had to do that, but it’s the best course of action going forward with the bigger picture in mind. Not overly concerned.”
Counsell had a similar outlook.
“That’s the hope, is that maybe we caught this soon enough that it’s just a short stay,” he said.
Wicks said he first felt the soreness in his arm – “inside of the forearm, right around the flexor area, not near the elbow or anything like that” – warming up for his last start. But by the time he was ready, it had gone away.
“So I didn’t think anything of it,” he said.
Throwing in between starts this week, however, the tightness and soreness persisted.
“I’ve had little stints of it [before], just soreness, nothing really crazy,” he said. “Usually we take a couple days from throwing, give it a couple of days, it calms down, and then we keep rolling. I also think I’ve had it about this time in the year before.”
The familiarity helped him remain optimistic that he’d be able to bounce back with rest. He said he hadn’t yet had imaging done on the injury but likely will look into it, just for peace of mind.
Bellinger optimistic
Cubs center fielder Cody Bellinger (fractured right ribs) took meaningful steps in his rehab process Sunday. After moving through his swing the day before, he hit off a tee for the first time Sunday. He also hit about five front-tossed baseballs. And he played catch.
Bellinger said he hopes to come back about as quickly as he did in September of 2021, when he fractured a rib colliding with Gavin Lux on defense. He was only sidelined for 10 days then. But Counsell cautioned that the calculus is different this early in the season.
“We haven’t had anything that tells us that that can’t happen right now,” Counsell said. “But he also has some intensity to conquer before we get there. … We’ve got a lot of games left, and I don’t think playing in a lot of pain is what we want to tackle right now.”
Morel in lineup
Cubs third baseman Christopher Morel was back in the lineup Sunday. He left the Cubs’ blowout loss the night before after a collision in the bottom of the seventh inning.