Cubs' Quintana confident of a quick recovery
Three weeks after having surgery to repair a lacerated left thumb, Cubs pitcher Jose Quintana is encouraged by the results.
“No pain, nothing,” Quintana told reporters on a Zoom call Tuesday. “I'm lucky the part where I feel the ball, I feel nothing around that area. So I felt great (Monday).
“The biggest thing for me is control of the ball, hold the grip good and throw the ball. Yesterday I threw fastball and changeups and it feels great.”
Quintana injured the thumb on his throwing hand in a freak dishwashing injury. He said he was washing a wine glass, which turned out to be fragile and it broke, slicing his thumb in the process. The procedure was officially described by the team as a repair to the lacerated digital sensory nerve in his left thumb.
“It's quarantine, so I've been helping at home,” he said. “One day before flying to Chicago for summer camp, so it's tough.”
Nerve damage is certainly cause for concern with any pitcher who relies on being able to grip the ball. Initially, there were concerns Quintana could miss the season.
At the time, president of baseball operations Theo Epstein discussed two recovery paths – one that would be relatively quick and another where it takes the nerve longer to heal. Quintana feels confident he is on the rapid path to return.
After some successful long toss in recent days, Cubs pitching coach Tommy Hottovy said Monday he thinks Quintana could be ready to throw off the mound in a week to 10 days. Quintana plans to throw curve balls during his next long-toss session on Wednesday.
“When I had the surgery, the doctors said it was going to be hard, but let's see how you throw,” he said. “I'm lucky my tendon is good. I felt really good when I threw the ball the last two days and it was easy to throw.”
Quintana said his bigger concern now is to make sure his shoulder and the rest of his body are strong enough, since he had roughly two weeks of inactivity after surgery.
“I've been doing everything. I've been doing all my workouts,” he said. “The day before the accident, I threw four (simulated) innings, 50-55 pitches. I've been following the program from Tommy. It was really good.”
Quintana, 30, has been remarkably durable during his career, appearing in at least 32 games during the past seven years. He'll be a free agent after this season.
The Cubs could use some pitching depth, since they are scheduled to play 60 games in 65 days. For now, the rotation is set up with Kyle Hendrickws, Yu Darvish, Tyler Chatwood and Jon Lester as the top four, with Alec Mills a likely fifth starter until Quintana returns. Manager David Ross said he's leaning toward keeping 16 pitchers on the 30-man roster for opening day.
Twitter: @McGrawDHBulls