The Chicago Cubs will end up playing more than a month without starting center fielder Cody Bellinger after he injured his left knee against the Houston Astros on May 15. However, after four weeks of doing work on the field and recovering from the bone bruise, Bellinger is now a step closer to returning to the Cubs lineup.
On Tuesday, Cubs manager David Ross said Bellinger will begin a rehab assignment tonight with the Iowa Cubs at Triple-A.
The Cubs were 19-21 heading into that series-opening game against the Astros on May 15. The Cubs lost 6-4 and were eventually swept in Houston after Bellinger went down with the knee injury.
Entering Tuesday night's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Wrigley Field, the Cubs are 28-37, so far going 9-15 without Bellinger.
Bellinger slashed .271/.337/.493, with seven home runs and nine stolen bases in 37 games prior to the injury.
In other injury news, we still have no idea what is wrong with Seiya Suzuki.
You know what, I'm not actually sure if this is a bad injury update, but as Cubs fans have been all too familiar with, the latest on the right fielder is leaving us confused more than anything else.
Suzuki was having a brutal road trip out in California, but on Friday night he went 3-for-3, with a double and walk against the San Francisco Giants. That was after he had two hits in the series finale against the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday night. So, two solid games in a row at the plate after going 1-for-23 in the first six games out on the West Coast.
But then on Saturday, Suzuki was suspiciously out of the Cubs lineup in the middle game of their series against the Giants. It definitely raised an eyebrow and at this point nothing David Ross says is going to be taken to heart by fans. We also got the classic, "he's available off the bench," line from the Cubs manager.
Via Meghan Montemurro.
Seiya Suzuki isn’t in the Cubs lineup today as Ross gives him a breather because Suzuki is dealing with “some small things.” Ross says he’s available off the bench.
So, whatever the "small things," that were bothering Suzuki also kept him out of Sunday's series finale in San Francisco. This time around, we got a little more, but actually we didn't learn anything new. Or maybe we did? Kinda?
Via Patrick Mooney.
Seiya Suzuki is out of the lineup. He said, via an interpreter, “I’m not too sure” what the issue is, but “it’s nothing serious.” David Ross said Suzuki’s feeling “under the weather” with “some soreness in some areas.” Cubs want to give him a 3-day break with Monday’s off-day.
Huh? So, even Seiya doesn't know what's wrong? But also, maybe he's just feeling ill? I hope that's the case. Maybe just some body soreness because he's been feeling sick? Again, at this point your guess is as good as mine because for some reason the Cubs can never give a clear answer when it comes to players missing time.
And then on Tuesday, when Ross was on 670 The Score, he still didn't give any clarification about Suzuki's status.
Via 670 The Score.
“He’s just got some stuff that’s taking a little while, just precautionary stuff,” Ross said. “We’ll see how he checks out and go from there.”
Ummm, ok? Cubs remain undefeated when it comes to being ridiculously vague when talking about injuries.
