Kris Bryant, Willson Contreras And Javier Báez Injury Updates

Let's just rip off the band-aid right away. Javier Báez is out for the rest of the regular season.

During the weekend he had an MRI and a hairline fracture was discovered in his left thumb. So, we knew right away that Báez was going to be out for at least a few weeks and probably not make it back in time to end September. The Cubs confirmed that on Monday.

Báez will rehab in hopes that the Cubs make the postseason and then he'll possibly be able to return.

Báez injured his thumb on a slide against the Brewers on Sept. 1. The only positive is that the injury to El Mago led to the call up of Nico Hoerner. Yay?

The Cubs are currently four games back of the Cardinals in the division and have a two-game lead for the second Wild Card spot over the Brewers.

Willson Contreras returned after missing one month because of a hamstring strain, but during the past week he hasn't started much. The Cubs are being extra cautious with the catcher.

Meanwhile, Kris Bryant has been dealing with a knee issue since late July, but it looks like he finally found a solution to manage the pain, getting a cortisone shot in his injured knee.

Via ESPN.

“Today [Monday] I woke up and it definitely is helping,” Bryant said of the shot. “I feel a lot better. … At some point you have to put your pride aside. I’m glad I did it because I think I may have finally found a solution to put this in the past.”

“I think what we did was right, in terms of getting a shot and making myself ready to go for the rest of the year,” he said. “I want to be out there 100 percent for the guys. And if I’m at 60-70 percent, that’s a complete disservice to everyone here and our fans. I want to do all I can to get it right.”

And hey, Bryant and Contreras are back in the Cubs lineup!

Please, no more late scratches.