Injuries keep piling up for the Cubs. The team announced Saturday that right-hander Hayden Wesneski was put on the 15-day injured list with a strained right forearm. Rookie reliever Hunter Bigge was recalled from Triple-A Iowa. Wesneski felt discomfort in his triceps while pitching Friday, and the Cubs took him out and immediately had imaging done.
The team hopes Wesneski’s injury is minor and that rest will allow him to recuperate quickly — similar to reliever Mark Leiter Jr., who had a forearm strain that caused him to miss 13 games.
Wesneski is the 10th pitcher on the injured list for the Cubs. One of team president Jed Hoyer’s goals was to create more pitching depth. The addition of veterans Hector Neris and Yency Almonte brought more experience to the bullpen, and the emergence of Ben Brown, Jordan Wicks and Javier Assad strengthened the rotation.
But a team can only withstand so many injuries.
“In this last stretch of the season, we felt like we’ve been kind of caught up,” manager Craig Counsell said. “And then it’s just been kind of one guy back, one guy down, so we’ve never been able to add to it, unfortunately, and get it back to the spot that we had hoped to have when the season started.”
Entering Saturday, the Cubs were 11th in ERA among starters (3.81), and the bullpen had a 1.21 ERA since June 27 while allowing the fewest earned runs (eight) in the majors in that span.
More injury woes
Left-hander Luke Little was diagnosed with a lat strain that likely will end his season but won’t require surgery, Counsell said. Little was settling into a significant role in the bullpen. He was showing signs of harnessing his electric stuff, allowing only one run in his last 9⅔ innings.
“Luke had gotten to a point where there was a real role for him on this team,” Counsell said. “There was development that happened this year, and it was really trending in a good direction. Unfortunately, that’s probably going to have to stop now and wait until next year.”
Veteran reliever Julian Merryweather, who has been on the injured list since April 6 with a stress fracture in his ribs, is showing signs that a return is imminent. He pitched Friday night at Triple-A Iowa and struck out two batters and allowed two hits in 1⅔ innings.
“Very good,” Counsell said of Merryweather’s outing. “Everything went really well. The plan remains the same with Julian.”
Counsell said Friday that the latest Merryweather would return could be at the start of the Cubs’ road trip, which begins Friday in Kansas City.
Pitching development
Amid all the injuries, the team’s improved pitching development has shined. Brown, Little and right-hander Porter Hodge have taken steps forward in their development this season.
“That’s the good news, right?” Counsell said. “The injuries to guys like [right-hander Adbert Alzolay] and Julian you can’t do anything about. [Those injuries] set them back and really created some holes in the bullpen.
“Those are the guys you were really counting on. That changed some things early in the season. But, overall, I think our young pitchers have made progress.”