CHICAGO _ Brandon Morrow's return to the Cubs may not occur until the second half of September, and he won't resume his closer duties immediately then even if his right arm can absorb the pain stemming from a bone bruise.
"That would be a bad assumption for me," manager Joe Maddon said Tuesday night. "You'd have to build him back into that role and find out where he's at."
Morrow hasn't pitched in the second half after he initially was diagnosed with right biceps inflammation. Since then he mostly has been throwing off flat ground, and hasn't thrown off a mound in nearly a week.
Morrow and the Cubs stress his injury hasn't regressed, but they're moving at a deliberate pace in hopes he'll be as effective as possible late in the season.
"If you want to use him in the ninth, I can't imagine using him back-to-back nights," Maddon said.
Maddon, however, admitted "we might have to test it and see if it's real or not for the next month."
The Cubs may opt to conduct simulated games for Morrow if he's not ready to pitch before the minor league season ends.
Meanwhile, shortstop Addison Russell said his right shoulder is feeling much better than his left middle finger.
Russell was scheduled to take a few light swings Tuesday after playing catch. Russell has kept his batting eye sharp by tracking pitches during bullpen sessions.
"My finger is healing better," Russell said. "You never know when it's going to flare up, but that stuff I've been dealing with the whole season."
Russell is eligible to come off the DL on Thursday and didn't think he would need a brief minor-league rehab assignment.
"As soon as it's time, it's time," Russell said.
