Chicago Cubs’ Cody Bellinger runs the bases after hitting a home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros, Tuesday, April 23, 2024, in Chicago. He late left that game with fractured ribs.
Erin Hooley/AP Photos
The Cubs activated center fielder Cody Bellinger from the 10-day injured list on Tuesday. In all, the fractures in two of his ribs, which he sustained running into the brick outfield wall Wrigley Field while trying to corral a deep fly ball, sidelined him for just two weeks.
“I wouldn’t say I’m fully pain free,” Bellinger said before the Cubs’ game against the Padres on Tuesday. “But something like this, it takes quite a bit of time to be fully pain-free. Where it’s at, it’s a matter of pain tolerance, and I feel like I’m in a pretty good spot with it.”
In a corresponding move, the Cubs optioned outfielder Alexander Canario to Triple-A Iowa. They also put reliever Daniel Palencia on the 15-day IL with what the team called a strained right shoulder and recalled right-hander Keegan Thompson from Triple-A.
“You want to have your best players in the lineup, you want to be able to put your best team out there as much as you can,” manager Craig Counsell said. “And getting Cody back puts us in a step in the right direction and that.”
The next step on offense will be to get right fielder Seiya Suzuki (strained right oblique) back from the 10-day IL. He left Tuesday to go on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Iowa. Counsell said the anticipates Suzuki will play rehab games Wednesday and Thursday and then rejoin the major-league squad on Friday or Saturday in Pittsburgh.