I mean, is anyone surprised? You knew the minute that Jaxon Wiggins was scratched from his scheduled start at Triple-A last week that something was wrong. Jed Hoyer was vague when giving an update a few days later, which made it all the more obvious that the top pitching prospect in the Chicago Cubs organization had an injury.
On Wednesday, the Cubs hit fans with two bits of bad news. Porter Hodge will undergo season-ending elbow surgery after he suffered a setback in his recovery from a right flexor strain that sidelined him to begin the year. In addition to that, Wiggins, who has only started two games for the Iowa Cubs and last pitched on April 4, was officially placed on the injured list.
Get ready for this almost unbelievable fact about the current state of the Cubs’ pitching health up and down the organization. Hodge was already on the injured list, but he became the second pitcher ruled out for the year on the 40-man roster. Plus, there are currently 10 pitchers on the team’s 40-man roster on the injured list.
Wiggins is the latest pitcher in the Cubs minor system to be placed on the injured list, which now includes 21 pitchers!
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That is 31 pitchers currently on the injured list for the Cubs.
Sure, there are a few guys on the list who are coming back from surgeries, so it’s not like all these are new injuries. However, that is still a ridiculous number of pitching injuries that have accumulated in the organization.
And no one is going to shed a tear for the Cubs either. Injuries, and some pretty big ones, have already hit teams across MLB this season, so it’s not like the Cubs are the only ones affected. In the broader picture, though, you have to think that leadership has to review whatever they were instructing over the past year, because this is insane.
Also, do all these mounting injuries put more pressure on the front office to go out and sign free agent Lucas Giolito? The Cubs are one of the teams reportedly showing the most interest in Giolito, so we’ll see if they actually sign him soon.
