It Begins: Javier Assad and Brandon Birdsell Dealing With Ailments ...Middle East

Ah, here we go. You can’t act like it’s not just the normal course of things. This is par for the course, unhappy-making though it may be.

When Spring Training opens, two things can happen with respect to pitcher injuries: (1) we find out that a guy was feeling something a few weeks ago and isn’t throwing yet, and/or (2) a guy starts stepping up his throwing progression and feels something not great.

Our first dose comes today from Craig Counsell, speaking on starting pitchers Javier Assad and Brandon Birdsell:

Counsell noted that Javier Assad is currently dealing with oblique soreness. Getting imaging today. More info/clarity on timetable in coming days.

Craig Counsell said Javier Assad is dealing with some oblique soreness and is out right now. Brandon Birdsell is also dealing with an issue, back of shoulder area.

Cubs pitchers Javier Assad (oblique soreness) and Brandon Birdsell (back shoulder/lat) are dealing with injuries per Counsell. Assad is getting imaging today on his oblique and Cubs are trying to the bottom of Birdsell’s ailment.

Coming into Spring Training, you’d probably regard Javier Assad as the most likely fifth starter for this team. That’s a soft expectation, based mostly on his success in the role the last couple years, paired with the reality that a whole lot of other guys could make sense in the role at some point this year, including Ben Brown, Jordan Wicks, and Colin Rea.

We can’t say for sure that oblique soreness on February 10 is going to entirely change that calculus, but it certainly might, pending the results of the imaging. If Assad is dealing with an oblique strain, then we would know – especially since it’s coming here at the outset of ramping up – that he would not be ready on time for the start of the regular season. We’ll await the results of the MRI before drawing any conclusions, but even in the event it comes back clear, the Cubs were probably always going to play it exceedingly cautious with these guys while they still have lots of depth.

Speaking of which, pitching prospect Brandon Birdsell is there in that depth group behind the primary 5th/6th/7th starters after his pitcher-of-the-year season in 2024, which saw him looking the part of a future big leaguer at Triple-A Iowa.

On the one hand, Birdsell dealing with an issue right now is less concerning than it would be for one of the front four in the big league rotation, since he is behind not only them in the pecking order, but also the primary depth group. On the other hand, let me tell you that “back of shoulder” and “lat” are not words I want to hear when it comes to a potential pitching injury. If it’s a real injury in that area, that is historically the kind of thing that costs a guy a lot of time. You’d rather not be losing any of your potential starting pitchers – or even any of your top pitching prospects – for chunks of time this early in the year, you know?

At least the Cubs can afford to proceed very cautiously with Birdsell, given that he’s not on the 40-man and is still more in the “prospect” mold than the “we need this guy ASAP” mold.

Like I said, this is par for the course in the aggregate. I hate to hear it on Assad and Birdsell for individual reasons, but when viewed across the entire spectrum of Cubs arms, this is going to happen. There will be more, too. And you just hope that the depth they’ve built up, together with a good progression and good health for the vast majority of guys, will be enough to overcome whatever injuries do pop up.

In the meantime, here’s hoping the scans on Assad come back clean, and here’s hoping the Cubs figure out what’s going on with Birdsell and that it’s mild.

Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( It Begins: Javier Assad and Brandon Birdsell Dealing With Ailments )

Also on site :

• Italy vs Moldova - prediction, lineups and live streaming
• Croatia vs Czech Republic - prediction, FREE online stream , lineups
• Watch match live Belgium vs Wales - prediction & lineups