Little becomes latest Cubs reliever to land on injured list
ST. LOUIS — The Cubs hoped their bullpen would be healthier soon, but that turned out to be wishful thinking.
Luke Little went on the 15-day injured list Saturday with a left shoulder strain. He took the mound in the eighth inning of Friday's victory in St. Louis, but he motioned for a trainer after just four pitches.
“We'll learn more over the all-star break,” manager Craig Counsell said. “Likely some kind of shoulder injury and that's obviously concerning for a pitcher. Kind of a no-brainer injured list.”
Ethan Robert was called up from Iowa to take Little's spot, while Javier Assad (right forearm strain) came off the injured list to serve as the roster addition for the double-header. Assad planned to start Game 2.
Two other pitchers trying to make comebacks tossed single innings at Triple-A Iowa on Friday. Julian Merryweather (rib stress fracture) gave up a run while throwing 21 pitches in his second rehab outing, while Caleb Kilian (right shoulder strain) allowed an unearned run on 16 pitches.
Merryweather's fastball was clocked at an average of 95.4 mph. It was 98.1 last season, so he appears to need more time to get back into shape after a long layoff.
Counsell said outfielder Mike Tauchman (left groin strain) took live batting practice off Adbert Alzolay (right flexor strain) in Arizona. Tauchman will play in some Arizona rookie league games over the all-star break and could be activated as soon as Friday when games resume. Alzolay could begin a rehab assignment soon.
Win streak implodes:
It's an understatement to say nothing went right for the Cubs in Saturday's opening inning of Game 1. Pitcher Hayden Wesneski struggled through a brutal 40-pitch first inning in 90-degree weather, with the Cardinals scoring 9 runs.
“Weird inning,” Wesneski said. “I'm the one who really messed it up with the sail throw to second. Still competed, still got weak contact. It's just one of those things, where (if) one thing goes right, we're in a different game.”
The nightmare inning started with three singles. Then Wesneski sailed a throw to second for an error on a weak tap to the mound. He was charged with a second error on another soft grounder.
The right-hander was one pitch away from getting out of it with 3 runs scored, then he hit No. 9 hitter Mike Siani to force in a run. A 2-run single and 3-run homer by Alec Burleson followed and the Cubs trailed 9-1.
“The game was designed for three outs and it makes it a lot harder when you're giving a team six outs,” manager Craig Counsell said. “They kind of jumped on him early. I think they were on hitter No. 7 in 13 pitches, so they were obviously aggressive with him.”
Wesneski made it through four innings in an effort to save the bullpen and only 4 of the 11 runs were earned. It could have been worse, the Cubs lost 17-0 at Boston on April 27, the loss that began the long, two-month slide after a 17-9 start.
“There's two ways of doing it,” Wesneski said. “There's the, 'Poor me, we're not getting through this,' and there's the, 'All right, I've got to get (the next batter) out.' I try to take that route and keep chugging along. It's a long season and it's a long game.”
Luck of the Hendricks:
Why has Kyle Hendricks been so successful against St. Louis during his career? He gave a modest answer after throwing seven scoreless innings Friday.
“Honestly, it's still a lot of luck,” Hendricks said. “There's so many good hitters over there. I just keep putting my head down and try to make one good pitch after another.
“It's a good atmosphere pitching here, Cubs-Cardinals is always fun. We embrace that. We enjoy it. It's a great team over there, hopefully keep getting lucky.”
Hendricks once again credited catcher Miguel Amaya for calling a good game. Cardinals slugger Paul Goldschmidt tried to explain why Hendricks was so tough Friday.
“He just has so much movement on that fastball and he's able to use it on both sides of the plate,” Goldschmidt said. “It's almost like two different pitches, and then he has his curveball, and obviously that changeup is good as well.
“While it looks simple, he’s up, down, in and out. While maybe it’s just two pitches, it can feel like six or seven. He's done a good job his whole career, especially against us.”
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