Cubs prospect Howard will have hip surgery, miss rest of season
Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer confirmed minor league shortstop Ed Howard suffered a hip injury. He will have surgery and miss the rest of the season.
Howard, a South Side native, was the team's first-round draft pick in 2020. He was hitting .244 in 23 games for Single A South Bend this season.
"The early prognosis is really good as far as a comeback, but that's going to be a comeback after a lot of rehab and a lot of time," Hoyer said. "I know he's in good spirits, but he's got a real road ahead of him.
"You feel for him. I think he gained the most strength of anyone in that rookie camp we had this winter. His exit velocities were way up, his contact rate was up, he was playing really good defense and it was exciting to have that kind of year early on. So for him to get hurt, the timing was really bad. I guess the timing is always bad, but the good thing is it sounds like the prognosis is for a full recovery."
Regarding some other injured Cubs, Hoyer said pitcher Adbert Alzolay (right elbow tightness) will see the doctor at the end of this month in hopes of getting cleared to start throwing again.
Pitcher Brailyn Marquez, once the top-rated prospect in the organization, is throwing again, but Hoyer said returning to game action is not imminent. The left-hander hasn't pitched in a game since 2020.
Top prospect Brennan Davis is in Arizona recovering from a sore back, after hitting .195 with 2 home runs in 22 games at Triple A Iowa. Hoyer thinks Davis will be back on the field soon.
Cubs notes:
Infielder David Bote (left shoulder surgery) played in his first rehab game for Iowa on Thursday and went 1-for-3 at the plate with a double. ... As Marcus Stroman was activated from the injured list to start Thursday's game, reliever Michael Rucker went on the 15-day injured list retroactive to May 17 with left turf toe. RHP Alec Mills (lower back strain), who threw a bullpen session Thursday, was moved to the 60-day injured list. ... Iowa Cubs RHP Caleb Killian lowered his season ERA to 1.31 by not allowing an earned run in 5 1/3 innings Thursday.
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