Cubs' Bryant out with illness, Baez returns to lineupe
Kris Bryant was not in Wednesday's starting lineup against Cleveland. He left the previous night's game early due to feeling under the weather, which made it difficult to breathe.
"He's just super under the weather, didn't sleep much last night," Ross said before the game. "Just not feeling good. I think he wanted to be in there and was thinking about putting him in there, but I don't think he would be of much use to us. It gives him an extra day tomorrow to try to recover and be ready for Detroit (on Friday)."
Shortstop Javy Baez was back in the lineup after missing Tuesday's game with back tightness. It was the second game in a row he didn't start, although he did pinch-hit on Sunday.
"He can't stand not being in there," Ross said of Baez. "He's the first one to text me in the morning that he's fine, put him in there. Yesterday, we had a couple conversations on the bench. He came up to me late in the game and told me he was available with KB coming out. I told him I thought we were fine.
"He's another one that can't sit still and can't stand to be on the sidelines when competition's going on. He worked hard yesterday in the training room trying to loosen things up. I don't think he's in real pain, I think it's just some stiffness that won't let go and he seems to be all good this morning."
In other injury news, if all goes according to plan, Jake Arrieta will start Friday in Detroit and Nico Hoerner will come off the injured list. Arrieta skipped a start due to a cut on his thumb. Hoerner and Ian Happ both went on the injured list after an outfield collision in Cincinnati on May 2.
"Everything seems to be progressing well for Nico," Ross said. "Happer still just probably a tick behind. Each day, Happer improves pretty significantly. The more he's able to do when he's not 100%, the better to stay active."
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