Pitcher Steele joins Cubs' hamstring list
Hamstrings have done plenty of harm for the Cubs this season.
Pitcher Justin Steele went on the injured list Friday with a left hamstring strain. He left Thursday's game after going out to the mound for the seventh inning. Lefthander Brad Wieck returned from Triple A Iowa.
Steele is the third Cubs player currently on the injured list due to a hamstring issue, joining infielders Jake Marisnick and Jason Heyward. Shortstop Javy Baez also missed a couple games with a hamstring issue. While manager David Ross said Heyward had a mild strain, Steele's injury was termed moderate.
"It's still kind of under diagnosis," Ross said. "A couple days always gives us a little more information. Jason is starting some light activities already today, I think that's good. Justin has a moderate strain, a little more severe than a mild is what the trainers are telling me."
Ross also said Marisnick, out since May 9, is making good progress and could be back soon.
Steele, a rookie who made his major league debut on April 12, has been one of the bright spots of the Cubs bullpen, which entered Friday's action with a run of 17⅓ consecutive scoreless innings. Steele has a 2.03 ERA, with 21 strikeouts in 13 1/3 innings.
Injuries in general have been a concern for the Cubs. Joc Pederson, Ian Happ and Nico Hoerner have all done stints on the injured list. Ross said third baseman Matt Duffy is dealing with some bumps and bruises, which is why he wasn't in the starting lineup for the third straight day.
"I don't think anybody has a good pulse on why," Ross said before Friday's game in St. Louis. "There's all these theories about the pandemic, probably guys training more at home than in gyms. You're away from people, probably a little less active in the offseason. I'm not a specialist in that area, but it is important that they get rest. We're talking a lot about competitive advantages, I think one is keeping guys healthy this year throughout 162."
Ross tries to schedule regular days off for all the players and wondered if Heyward getting a day off, then having to come in to the game when Anthony Rizzo left with a sore back, could have contributed to the hamstring injury.
"I have no idea," Ross said. "But it just makes me wonder in those instances. I think those type of things are the questions you always ask as a manager, what can I do better to keep guys on the field and keep them healthy.
When he spoke to reporters Thursday, Cubs president Jed Hoyer mentioned trying to figure out the injury issue.
"What we've been dealing with from an injury standpoint is not uncommon in baseball right now," Hoyer said. "We're going to sit down with high performance, sit down with the coaching staff and talk about why, on our end. I think we all had a concern there might be more injuries this year. Figuring out exactly why that's happening early in the season I think is a real question that we have not answered yet, obviously. Depth is going to be tested for everybody."
Twitter: @McGrawDHBulls