The Cubs' worst fear regarding Brandon Morrow might soon become a reality. I thought there was a chance that at best Morrow would return sometime in mid-September and hopefully be ready to close games in October. The time frame of the injury reminded me of Pedro Strop and Hector Rondon missing time back in 2016, when they didn't come back until September and then in the postseason Joe Maddon didn't have confidence in them during big spots.
Well, right now Morrow simply being on the playoff roster might be the best case scenario, let alone being ready to be the closer again.
Morrow's been on the disabled list since July, with a biceps injury and the hope was he could be back in the middle of September. The plan would then be to build up his strength and slowly work him back to the closer's role.
Yet, that timetable was already tight and after Morrow threw again from 120 feet, the Cubs are realizing that time is running out.
Morrow might not even return at all this year.
Back in 2016, when Maddon lost trust in Rondon and Strop he at least had Aroldis Chapman to carry the bullpen. This year Strop has jumped into the closer's role, but he isn't really a reliever who can go multiple innings if needed. If Morrow isn't back, which at this point it doesn't look very likely, Maddon will have to operate without that one lockdown reliever. So, instead you might see guys like Jesse Chavez and Mike Montgomery be more important in the playoffs for the Cubs. Or if you really want to stay optimistic, maybe Cubs' starters begin to go deep into games and not having Morrow becomes less of a problem. We'll see what happens in the next three weeks, but maybe even scarier than no Morrow in the bullpen is having Brandon Kintzler in there.
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