ATLANTA – The Cubs have had some tough luck with injuries over the last week and shortstop Javy Baez is the latest player to be dealing with an early-season injury. Baez was out of the lineup for the second consecutive day on Tuesday dealing with a left hamstring strain.
Baez, who injured the hamstring during Sunday’s game against the Brewers, got treatment on Monday and Tuesday, but did not do any on-field agility work. The Cubs have needed to be cautious with their star shortstop and putting Baez on the injured list is not out of the question. The Cubs bench is currently undermanned with several players dealing with minor injuries.
“If he can’t, if he can’t go, or we think that’s something that is going to take multiple days, then uh, yeah, it makes sense to put him on the injured list,” Ross said. “It’s tough to play with too short of a bench. We want Javy to be healthy and we are still really early in the season, so pushing him too hard doesn’t make a lot of sense.
“But if he feels good and he bounces back and all the tests show [good results], we’ll push forward. I don’t want to be too cautious. If he feels like he’s ready, we’ll go forward. But we’ll let the trainers do their job and I’ll rely on our medical staff.”
Baez has a .234/.272/.494 slash line with six home runs and a team-leading 17 RBI this season.
Bryant out with right biceps discomfort
Kris Bryant was out of the lineup on Tuesday as he deals with right biceps discomfort. According to Ross, Bryant initially felt the discomfort on a throw last week during the team’s homestand.
Bryant has been playing exclusively in the outfield since outfielder Joc Pederson went on the 10-day injured list. The right biceps soreness hasn’t affected his offense as he’s helped carry the offense so far this season, slashing .289/.375/.993 with six homers, 16 RBIs and seven doubles.
“He has got some stuff going on with his biceps that he’s been playing through for a while that’s just been bothering him,” Ross said. “He’s been getting treatment trying to play through it. It’s just starting to bark a little bit.”
He said it
“I have confidence in my teammates and this lineup. I know that we started really slow, but lately we’ve been catching up to our expectations. We’ve been having a lot of good at-bats and that’s what makes us better. We just have to keep making adjustments and keep playing the game that we’ve been playing.” – Catcher Willson Contreras on offensive improvements
