Elbow ailment lands Chicago Cubs' Kimbrel on injured list

MILWAUKEE - It's another one back, another one gone for the Chicago Cubs.

Just as the Cubs welcomed third baseman Kris Bryant back to the lineup for Thursday night's game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park, they placed closer Craig Kimbrel on the injured list with right-elbow inflammation.

The Cubs also had shortstop Javier Baez in their original starting lineup, but they scratched him about an hour before gametime with lingering left-thumb soreness. Baez missed the two-game series against the Seattle Mariners at Wrigley Field after jamming the thumb while sliding into second base Sunday.

The Kimbrel move is retroactive to Sept. 2. Because of the injury, the Cubs were able to recall infielder David Bote from Class AAA Iowa. Bote had been sent down Aug. 31 when the Cubs activated Ben Zobrist from the restricted list.

Team president Theo Epstein made the trip to Milwaukee, and he said Kimbrel "felt a little something crop up" Sunday and that an MRI "showed that everything is in place structurally. He's just got a little inflammation in there. The elbow MRI was pristine, just like it was when we signed him."

The Cubs signed Kimbrel to a free-agent deal in June. He was on the IL for two weeks in August with a knee ailment.

"It was good news, but unfortunately we have to give it a few days without throwing to let it calm down," Epstein said. "We expect a pretty quick ramp-up and expect him to be back by the end of next week if things proceed according to plan."

This is the kind of injury situation manager Joe Maddon has been dealing with all year.

"It's just the nature of the season, it seems," Maddon said. "Hopefully it's going to be short-lived. Just talking to him right now, it doesn't sound horrible."

Maddon flashed a sense of humor when asked if he would play the matchups when it comes to naming a closer each game.

"We're playing The Match Game, starring Gene Rayburn," he said referring to the game-show host of years ago. "We've done it before. Everybody's ready to rock and roll."

Kimbrel has 13 saves in 15 opportunities.

Another step for Darvish:

Pitcher Yu Darvish threw 29 pitches from the Miller Park bullpen mound Thursday afternoon, and the Cubs still list him as Saturday's starting pitcher.

Darvish was scratched from this past Sunday's start because of right-forearm tightness.

The Cubs sounded upbeat on Darvish.

"It was just kind of a normal bullpen for him," said pitching coach Tommy Hottovy. "We wanted to try to keep it as normal as possible for him in that situation, a normal routine, to make sure he hits every pitch he wants.

"He felt good about it. I think we all did. He came through it fine, and his stuff was on par with what we assume a normal bullpen to be. We've got to see how he feels (Friday), recovery from a normal light bullpen. Unless something comes up tomorrow and he gets some stiffness from the bullpen session today, that's a different story.

"But for now, I imagine he's ready to go on Saturday."