Cubs have roster questions after Swanson injury, another loss to Cardinals

The Cubs 26-man roster was under the microscope before Sunday’s finale against the St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field.

It only magnified as Dansby Swanson exited after swinging at the first pitch he saw during the Cubs’ 11-4 loss to the Cardinals. The shortstop exited with left-side tightness, the team announced, a situation that likely will require a stint on the injured list, said manager Craig Counsell.

“We don’t really know anything yet,” Swanson said after the game. “We’ll find out more tomorrow once we get some imaging done. At that point, everything’s kind of TBD.”

Swanson was replaced in the lineup by rookie James Triantos, who played second base while Nico Hoerner shifted to short. The Cubs will use Hoerner at short while Swanson is out and will likely mix in another rookie, Pedro Ramírez, at second base. Ramírez started at first base for the first time in the big leagues on Sunday with the Cubs, giving Michael Busch a day off at first.

The Cubs don’t really have a backup first baseman on the roster after the trade deadline and want to find someone who can offer some time off for Busch down the stretch, or in case he goes down like Swanson.

“First base is a spot where we’re a little concerned about what’s next should something happen to Michael,” Counsell said before the game. “We need to get somebody that, at a certain point of the season, is comfortable playing there should a need arise.”

But Swanson’s injury, and the trickle-down effects from it, weren’t the only roster concern the Cubs faced on Sunday.

The team activated right-hander Edward Cabrera from the injured list before the series finale, returning their big offseason acquisition to their rotation. The Cubs traded for the right-hander in the winter, sending top prospects Owen Caissie and Cristian Hernández to the Miami Marlins.

His return from the IL before the game meant Javier Assad, who had been one of Counsell’s most versatile pitchers, was sent to Iowa to make room on the 26-man roster. The 29-year-old had a 1.88 ERA since July, making four starts and four relief appearances in that stretch.

Assad was one of just three pitchers with minor-league options remaining, but the other two — left-hander Ryan Rolison and right-hander Ryan Zeferjahn — are leverage arms in Counsell’s bullpen. That meant Assad was the odd man out and will start with Iowa and be a depth option for the major-league team.

“I think at this point the decision we made was to preserve every pitcher we could,” Counsell said before the game. “And certainly, if I was in Javi’s shoes, that doesn’t feel fair. But from a depth perspective, this was a way to preserve everybody and keep maximum depth and move forward with that.”

Cabrera, though, has struggled to live up to the expectations the Cubs hoped for, and that only continued Sunday. The right-hander surrendered seven earned runs on six hits in Sunday’s loss, and saw his ERA balloon to 5.68. It’s the highest mark since he had a 5.81 ERA in 2021, his first season in the big leagues.

The 28-year-old said Sunday’s woes were due to a blister on his right middle finger. He landed on the IL in late May with a blister. Cabrera began to feel like a blister might be forming early in the game, but tried to pitch through it, not telling Counsell or pitching coach Tommy Hottovy. By the fourth inning, Cabrera could tell there was a blister but attempted to keep going.

But the blister began to affect his command. After a leadoff groundout, he walked three of the next four batters and surrendered three more runs in the frame.

“That was what affected me there in the last inning,” Cabrera said. “I tried to battle, but I couldn’t finish the inning.”

It put the Cubs in a hole they couldn’t recover from and gave them even more roster questions.

Cabrera’s return to the rotation meant that left-hander David Peterson was “a bullpen option for the time being,” Counsell said. Peterson was acquired from the New York Mets in a June trade and had a 4.19 ERA in eight starts so far this season.

The Cubs expected some rust from Cabrera in his return, but the persistent command issues — he’s walked two or more batters in 10 of his 15 starts — have thrown his rotation status into doubt.

“We’re going to have to talk about that, yeah,” Counsell said when asked if Cabrera would get another start.

Cabrera has made just two appearances in his six seasons in the majors out of the bullpen, but the Cubs don’t necessarily have the time to give him a chance to figure it out, especially with other options like Peterson, Assad and Colin Rea available as starting depth.

And the injury won’t be an excuse for Cabrera to miss time, either.

“It’s a blister,” he said. “I have had those in the past. In my mind, I’m not going to miss a start over a blister.”