Palencia headlines Cubs’ list of injury questions

The Cubs kicked off the second half Friday with one pitcher ready to come off the injured list, and a whole bunch of question marks.

Manager Craig Counsell confirmed Jameson Taillon (left hamstring strain) will start next week against Detroit. Beyond that, it's anyone's guess.

The most concerning injury update Friday was closer Daniel Palencia, who went on the injured list June 16 with a right flexor strain.

“We're making progress with Daniel, but we're not moving forward,” Counsell said. “We're just having to repeat some steps so far. The original timetable of early August has been pushed back to probably mid-August right now, assuming we move forward from here.”

Counsell added that Palencia went to Arizona during the all-star break and is still there.

President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer also spoke to reporters and suggested the injuries won't have much of an impact on what the Cubs do before the Aug. 3 trade deadline. He already knows the team needs pitching help and is happy with the position player group.

“I'm not ruling out any kind of position player transaction, but the expectation would be that we'll focus on our pitching staff,” Hoyer said.

These are the rest of the injury updates:

∙ Left-handed reliever Hoby Milner (appendicitis) might be the next pitcher back after Taillon, with Counsell aiming for a return on or around Aug. 1.

∙ Starter Edward Cabrera (left hamstring/adductor strain) threw off the mound Thursday and it went well, according to Counsell. The second week of August is the hope if all goes well.

∙ Ben Brown (stress reaction, neck) is tougher to predict, although he is feeling better.

“He's been asymptomatic for a number of days now, but I don't know if that means he's healed up necessarily,” Counsell said. “He's kind of switching off between throwing plyoballs and baseballs.”

∙ One position player on the shelf is Matt Shaw (left hand sprain), who is still feeling symptoms. He's likely a couple weeks away still.

Then there's sort of the mystery pitchers, like Hunter Harvey, Justin Steele and Shelby Miller. Steele and Miller are coming off Tommy John surgery, while Harvey has been out since early April with a stress reaction near his right shoulder. All three are possibilities to pitch for the Cubs this season, according to Hoyer.

“I look at those as like great bonus things, if that makes sense,” he said. “Obviously all those guys have the ability to produce at a high level. I don't think we can be making those assumptions as we lead into the (trade) deadline, because they probably all have 4 to 6 weeks left.”

All-star ahead:

Before Friday's game, the Cubs packed some-star power into a brief ceremony previewing the 2027 All-Star Game.

It began with a video narrated by actor Elisabeth Moss, then the Cubs displayed commemorative bases, representing the three All-Star Games held at Wrigley Field, in 1947, '62 and '90. Former all-stars Billy Williams, Andre Dawson and Shawon Dunston were on hand, with the niece of the late Phil Cavarretta.

Then the Cubs brought out actor Bill Murray, singer Eddie Vedder and former all-star Anthony Rizzo, while unveiling the logo for next year's game. The special bases, meanwhile, were removed before the game started.

Ten years gone:

Jed Hoyer on the 10-year anniversary celebrations for the 2016 World Series champs:

“It's great to see people. I was here the other night for a concert, and Jake (Arrieta) was here and (John) Lackey was here. It was great to see those guys intermingling, Nico (Hoerner) and Pete (Crow-Armstrong) were here. I love that aspect, having those groups intermingle.

“The reason you do these jobs is to have moments like that and to have 10-year reunions and have those kind of celebrations.”