The Chicago Cubs and shortstop Dansby Swanson are playing it safe with his injury.
Ahead of the four-day All-Star break beginning Monday, Swanson went on the 10-day injured list before Saturday’s game at Yankee Stadium because of his bruised left heel. The Cubs recalled infielder Miles Mastrobuoni, who started Saturday at third base.
The move is retroactive to Thursday, setting up Swanson to return as soon as July 16 versus the Boston Red Sox at Wrigley Field. Swanson hasn’t played since he sustained the injury Wednesday in Milwaukee.
“I mean, unfortunately we’re in this position,” Swanson said Saturday. “I feel like it was almost in a way like a good insurance policy to not lose some of the retroactive days. So it stinks, but we have to make the best decision possible for the group.”
The timing sets up Swanson to potentially miss only two games after the All-Star break — if he doesn’t need any more time for his heel to recover.
After pulling out of the All-Star Game on Friday, Swanson confirmed Saturday he will not travel to Seattle to partake in the festivities. Instead he will go back home to rest, recover and continue his treatment plan to get back on the field as soon as possible.
He sounded optimistic he will require the minimum IL stint but stopped short of guaranteeing that timeline for his return.
“I’ve definitely learned to not give out any promises in this game,” Swanson said. “But that’s definitely the hope.”
Swanson dealt with a similar situation in 2019, when a bruised right heel caused him to miss 30 games. He believes his current injury is less severe based on the minor improvements he has seen each day. He plans to utilize the treatment options that worked last time and will get the custom orthotics he always wears altered to alleviate pressure on his left heel.
“You try to go off of what you feel, and if I’m not able to perform the way that is needed for the job to get done well, then it’s only going to hurt us,” Swanson said. “I would love to have said that I don’t have any experience (with this injury) because that means I wouldn’t have been hurt in the first place, but it just kind of comes with it. We’re obviously moving in the right direction.”
Swanson hasn’t gotten to the point of testing his heel with baseball activities. For someone used to playing every day — he came into the season having sat out only one game during the previous three years — Swanson acknowledged it’s “pretty terrible” being forced to the bench.
“My body already kind of feels crappy just because I’m so used to doing something every single day,” he said. “But we’re working through it and it gives me a little bit of a different opportunity to help in other ways.
“Like, I love talking to guys about hitting, love picking people’s brains. It’s unfortunate that I’m not able to play, but I could use these few days to gain a little bit of a different perspective and look at things from a 30,000-foot view.”
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