Cubs place Arrieta, Hoerner on injured list
The Cubs made several roster moves before the start of Tuesday's day-night doubleheader against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Infielder Nico Hoerner (left forearm strain), pitcher Jake Arrieta (right thumb abrasion) and pitcher Dan Winkler (right triceps tendinitis) went on the 10-day injured list, while the team promoted infielder Ildemaro Vargas, along with pitchers Keegan Thompson and Kyle Ryan.
Arrieta was schedule to start Wednesday's game against the Dodgers. The new plan is for Adbert Alzolay to move back a day and start Wednesday, while Thompson gets his first major league start in Tuesday's evening game.
"I think we're optimistic about everyone, to be honest with you," manager David Ross said. "I think all of them are fairly good news with the off days coming up for us. Gives us a chance to maximize the rest time without missing too many games."
Arrieta talked about the cut on his thumb after Friday's start in Cincinnati and said he wasn't able to throw his cutter very well. At the time, he was optimistic it would be fine by his next outing, but now the plan is for him to skip one start.
"I think we all were optimistic even going into that game kind of hoping for the best with the thumb," Ross said. "It's just affecting one of his main pitches and throwing the bullpen yesterday, it's not something that we feel comfortable pushing on. Again with that and the off days coming up, just him missing a start makes a lot of sense to get that thing healthy,"
Winkler threw scoreless inning on Saturday and Sunday against the Reds. The right-hander has been one of the Cubs' best bullpen arms, with a 0.84 ERA and 12 strikeouts in 10 innings pitched.
"It's been something that he's kind of been pitching through," Ross said. "I think when you've got tendinitis, the back-to-backs are just tougher. He's throwing the ball really well for us, think he hit 95-96 his last outing. The ball's coming out well, I think it's just cranking it back up on short rest has been a problem.
"Again, maximizing the time here we have with the off-days coming up just made a lot of sense to really give it the best chance to calm down and hopefully move forward, so we can use him the way we want to use him throughout the season."
One player that did not go on the injured list was center fielder Ian Happ, who was carted off the field after a collision with Hoerner in the eighth inning Sunday in Cincinnati. Ross said Happ is dealing with sore ribs, but is not in concussion protocol.
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