The Cubs’ worst fear regarding Brandon Morrow might soon become a reality. I thought there was a chance that at best Morrow would return sometime in mid-September and hopefully be ready to close games in October. The time frame of the injury reminded me of Pedro Strop and Hector Rondon missing time back in 2016, when they didn’t come back until September and then in the postseason Joe Maddon didn’t have confidence in them during big spots.
Well, right now Morrow simply being on the playoff roster might be the best case scenario, let alone being ready to be the closer again.
Morrow’s been on the disabled list since July, with a biceps injury and the hope was he could be back in the middle of September. The plan would then be to build up his strength and slowly work him back to the closer’s role.
Yet, that timetable was already tight and after Morrow threw again from 120 feet, the Cubs are realizing that time is running out.
Brandon Morrow has played long toss from 120 feet as he builds arm strength. He would then need to throw a few bullpen sessions and at least one simulated game before appearing in a game for the #Cubs, Jim Hickey says.
— 670 The Score (@670TheScore) September 5, 2018
Morrow might not even return at all this year.
As of now, #Cubs feel they'd be lucky to get Morrow back. Maddon: "It's hard to get him up to speed. You have to talk about building arm strength up, seeing hitters, throwing, day off, throwing again, and then just to be cautious regarding consecutive appearances"
— Carrie Muskat (@CarrieMuskat) September 5, 2018
Joe confirms there "barely" is enough time for Morrow return and Cubs'd be lucky if he does.
— Paul Sullivan (@PWSullivan) September 5, 2018
Maddon said they're running out of time to get Morrow back onto the mound and into the closer's role. He said it's "not inaccurate" that they'll have to operate under the assumption he can't comeback and be full go this season.
— Sahadev Sharma (@sahadevsharma) September 5, 2018
Back in 2016, when Maddon lost trust in Rondon and Strop he at least had Aroldis Chapman to carry the bullpen. This year Strop has jumped into the closer’s role, but he isn’t really a reliever who can go multiple innings if needed.
If Morrow isn’t back, which at this point it doesn’t look very likely, Maddon will have to operate without that one lockdown reliever. So, instead you might see guys like Jesse Chavez and Mike Montgomery be more important in the playoffs for the Cubs.
Or if you really want to stay optimistic, maybe Cubs’ starters begin to go deep into games and not having Morrow becomes less of a problem.
We’ll see what happens in the next three weeks, but maybe even scarier than no Morrow in the bullpen is having Brandon Kintzler in there.
