Before Thursday’s series finale in San Fransisco, the Chicago Cubs announced that starting pitcher Javier Assad will hit the 15-day injured list. He was diagnosed with a right forearm extensor strain and will likely be out a few weeks. Assad is the latest Cubs pitcher to fall victim to injury, as rookie right-hander Ben Brown and rookie left-hander Jordan Wicks are already on the IL. This comes after Justin Steele spent all of April on the IL after injuring himself in the season opener in Texas.
Assad, 26, has been somewhat of a breakout pitcher in the starting rotation this season. The right-hander is currently 4-3 with a 3.04 ERA in 16 starts. He’s actually been a heck of a lot better than these numbers show, considering he is 0-2 with a 5.49 ERA in his past four starts, likely due to his forearm issue. However, in his other 12 starts he is 4-1 with a 2.27 ERA while striking out 61 batters in 63 1/3 innings. Aside from his rough start to June, he’s been solid.
Javier Assad was signed by the Cubs as an international free Agent in 2015. Making his debut in 2022 for the Cubs, Assad has worked out of the bullpen while making spot starts up until this season when he earned a regular role in the starting rotation. He has been one of the Cubs top weapons this season in a starting rotation that has had to be nearly perfect due to an abysmal bullpen and a sputtering offense. Assad’s absence will surely be felt by the Cubs.
What’s next for the Chicago Cubs?
The Cubs are running thin on options with the aforementioned Brown and Wicks both still injured. The Cubs could continue to use right-hander Hayden Wesneski as a starter and wait out Brown and/or Wicks’ return. Wesneski has mostly been used out of the bullpen this year, or as the opener in a “bullpen game” where the Cubs use a number of different arms to get through innings.
Another option is to use the veteran Drew Smyly as a starter temporarily. He has only pitched out of the pen this season, but in the two years prior he has made 45 combined starts for the Cubs. Chicago could also bring an arm up from Triple-A Iowa to either start or take the spot of Smyly in the bullpen if he were to slot into the rotation. There are no ideal solutions here, the Cubs just need arms to eat up innings at this point until starters begin to get healthy.
Chicago Cubs make corresponding move
The Cubs did sign a veteran reliever today to take Assad’s place on the roster, per Taylor McGregor . Vinny Nittoli, a right-hander, has bounced around the league for four years. He comes to Chicago from the Oakland Athletics where he’s made seven appearances in 2024, striking out five batters in eight innings and posting a 2.25 ERA. He will provide added depth to a struggling bullpen that has by far been the team’s weakest link this season.
