Cubs manager reveals injuries to a pair of pitchers

Pitchers and catchers will be reporting to camp for all 30 clubs this week, but the Cubs started a little earlier than everyone else.

Thats due to the fact that the Cubs and Dodgers are starting the regular season early, flying to Tokyo to play a couple of games there in mid-March.

Inevitably, the opening of camp leads to revelations of injuries that werent previously known to the public.

Cubs manager Craig Counsell relayed a couple of those to reporters, including Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times .

Right-hander Javier Assad is dealing with some oblique soreness while fellow righty Brandon Birdsell is dealing with an issue in the back of his shoulder.

Per Jordan Bastian of MLB.com , Assad is getting some imaging today.

At this point, its unclear if either issue is serious, though the clubs rotation depth could suffer if one or both of these hurlers have to miss some time.

On paper, Assad would be in the clubs Opening Day rotation.

Last year, he made 29 starts and logged 147 innings, allowing 3.73 earned runs per nine.

He was probably a bit lucky to allow so few runs, as his 80.3% strand rate was well above the 72.1% league average, while his 19.4% strikeout rate and 9.9% walk rate were both subpar.

Still, his 4.64 FIP and 4.72 SIERA still point to him being a passable back-end guy.

As of right now, the rotation to start the season would include Shota Imanaga , Justin Steele , Jameson Taillon and Matthew Boyd in four spots.

Assad and Colin Rea would be candidates for the back end.

If Assad is healthy, Rea could wind up in a long reliever role, or he could hold down the number five spot if Assad needs some time on the shelf.

Birdsell is further down the depth chart.

A fifth-round pick from 2022, he is not yet on the 40-man roster.

But he finished his 2024 season with 12 Triple-A starts with a 4.26 ERA, 26.2% strikeout rate and 6.8% walk rate.

Hell likely be back in the Iowa rotation to start 2025 as a top depth option, alongside guys like Jordan Wicks , Cody Poteet and Cade Horton .

Adding to the clubs starting mix is seemingly still a possibility.

The Cubs were recently connected to the rumors surrounding Dylan Cease of the Padres.

They also still have a bit of wiggle room in terms of the competitive balance tax, assuming they would rather not pay it this year.

RosterResource puts their current CBT number at $209MM, more than $30MM away from the $241MM base threshold.

Cease is going to make $13.75MM this year, so he could easily fit into that remaining space.

There are also a few mid-rotation pitchers still available in free agency, such as Andrew Heaney , Nick Pivetta , Jose Quintana and more.

The club isnt likely to rush out and make a panic move just because of a few spring injuries, but its an area they had their sights set on already.

Its possible that further developments that impact the overall group could increase the clubs desire to pivot to backup plans..

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