Marcus Stroman might have already thrown his last pitch of the season for the Chicago Cubs. Or the right-hander could throw important innings down the stretch as they vie for a postseason spot.
The Cubs aren’t ruling anything out amid the range of outcomes and uncertainty surrounding the rarity of a new injury Stroman sustained earlier this week.
The Cubs announced Wednesday that Stroman suffered a right rib cartilage fracture and will remain on the 15-day injured list, a move that originally was prompted because of right hip inflammation.
There are so many unknowns about his short- and long-term Cubs future, whose player opt-out appeared at the midpoint of the season.
President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer did not want to try to estimate when — or if — Stroman, 32, would be back on the mound for the Cubs this season.
“I mean, I have no idea, that’s the honest truth,” Hoyer said Wednesday before the Cubs’ dramatic walk-off 4-3 win over the White Sox. “We don’t really know at this point. I think we’ll obviously get a real rest period and see how he feels, but I mean, again, it’s not a real common pitching injury. I’ve never seen that before so for me to speculate would be just false.
“At this point, he’ll just rest and hopefully he feels better and hopefully he comes back and pitches really well.”
The Cubs didn’t provide much clarity on the specifics surrounding Stroman’s injury.
Stroman’s bullpen went well Sunday in Toronto and the Cubs assumed he was going to make his start Wednesday, the first day he was eligible to come off the injured list, Hoyer said before the series finale against the Sox.
The Cubs found out Sunday Stroman was having some issues, with Hoyer explaining, “We didn’t know if it was muscular, if it was skeletal, if it was indigestion. We didn’t know what it was, we had no idea.”
The team returned from Toronto Sunday night and Stroman saw a doctor Monday. An MRI revealed the right rib cartilage fracture.
“It’s not your usual pitching injury,” Hoyer said. "After the bullpen Sunday, we assumed he was making the start so, yeah, we were surprised.”
Hoyer couldn’t answer whether the injury occurred while Stroman was throwing during Sunday’s bullpen, which was supposed to be a lighter session ahead of Wednesday’s would-be start: “We don’t really know.”
Hoyer currently feels pretty comfortable with the Cubs’ in-house options to bolster the pitching staff as needed during the final six weeks of the regular season. Javier Assad, coming off another quality start Wednesday, is expected to continue to fill a starter role while manager David Ross is leaning “pretty heavily” to having left-hander Drew Smyly slot back into the rotation. Right-hander Hayden Wesneski is also an option.
“This time of year, you just sort of roll with things like that and move forward and we have depth,” Hoyer said. “We’ve obviously been using that depth for a while and performing, so we have to keep doing that. But this time of year, you don’t stop and wallow too much. You say it’s too bad, we’d love to have him pitching for us, but he’s not and we’ll keep playing well.”
The Cubs can use one of their two expanded roster spots on Sept. 1 on a pitcher. Right-hander Ben Brown would be a versatile choice, especially since he is already on the 40-man roster. However, Brown is on the IL at Triple-A Iowa and hasn’t pitched since July 30 because of a left oblique/lat injury. He’s currently rehabbing at the team’s complex in Mesa, Ariz.
Left-hander Jordan Wicks, their 2021 first-round pick, is another interesting option. He owns a 3.81 ERA in six starts with Iowa and hasn’t allowed more than a run in his last three outings. But he is not on the 40-man roster. The Cubs haven’t been afraid to make a bold late-season promotion before, notably calling up Nico Hoerner from Double-A Tennessee in September 2019 to aid a banged-up infield.
“We’ve been creative when we feel like it’s the right thing to do for the organization, but we’re not in that position right now,” Hoyer said. “But certainly when you have a chance to go to playoffs and you have a chance to win you’re a lot more aggressive with those kinds of decisions.”
Hoyer also did not fully rule out bring up top prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong, though he cautioned “it’s way too early to talk about that” with just 12 games at Iowa. Crow-Armstrong’s elite outfield defense and baserunning skills could be an asset off the bench. He’s hit well since his promotion to Triple A, owning a .306/.424/.612 slash line in 59 plate appearances.
“Right now we’re just focused on his development and it’s been fun to watch,” Hoyer said.
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