Chicago Cubs’ Marcus Stroman will join his team in the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday as he was recently taken off the COVID-19 injured list.
The four-series game will be held at the Wrigley Field in Chicago, IL, from May 19 to Monday, May 23. Stroman (1-3, 5.13 ERA) will face off with the Diamondbacks’ Zac Gallen (2-0, 1.05).
“We’ve missed him,” manager David Ross said on Wednesday. “That’s for sure. Guys have picked up the slack. It will be nice to get him back. He was throwing the ball as good as anyone before he went down. This is a version of our rotation we felt it would look like coming out of spring training.”
Stroman entered the injured list on May 8 and was released on Wednesday, May 18. He has not pitched since May 1 when he delivered his best start. He did not let opponent Milwaukee score at all as he pitched for seven innings.
Stroman’s ERA this 2022 season is 5.13 with one win and three losses and 26.1 IP, but he is at 3.67 ERA in the regular season with 62-63 W-L and 1054.2 IP. He was paid $71 million for his contract with the Cubs, which will last for three more years.
The Cubs just played against the Pittsburgh Pirates in a three-series game from Monday, May 16 to Wednesday, May 18. The team won the first two games in the series by 9-0 and 7-0 but lost the last game by 2-3.
Chicago faced Arizona just last week between May 13 and May 15, with the Cubs winning the last two out of three games in the series. They lost the first game 4-3 but won the other two 2-4 and 2-3.
Other players on injured list
Bryce Harper of the Phillies is recovering from a small tear injury in his right elbow at the ulnar collateral ligament. His injury has prevented him from playing right field for six weeks or until late July. He recently received a platelet-rich plasma injection in his right elbow.
He is now positioned as a hitter with his record of .305, nine home runs, 14 doubles, and 27 RBIs, with a .634 slugging percentage. He is expected to play against San Diego on Thursday, May 19.
Jake Odorizzi was also taken out of the team due to an injury to his left ankle’s tendons and ligaments in a game against Boston on Monday. He fell after hearing his ankle pop after throwing a pitch. The pitcher will not join the Astros any time soon due to the severity of the damage. Fortunately for him, his Achilles tendon was not injured, unlike what he had feared.
“I think the stretcher made it worse than it actually was,” Odorizzi said Wednesday when he was carried by a stretcher out of the field in Monday’s game. “It was just a quick, loud pop. I heard it and felt it, so I kind of thought it was the worst-case scenario.”
