LOS ANGELES—Eleven o’clock on a Sunday morning, and Cubs catcher Carson Kelly’s attention was drawn to the small group of reporters clustered around Cubs PR man John Steinmiller in a clubhouse doorway, scribbling notes as he spoke.
“What’s going on?’’’ he asked. “Everybody good?’’
“Roster moves,’’ Steinmiller replied, then recited his list for Kelly’s benefit: Reliever Riley Martin, to the 15-day injured list with left elbow inflammation; reliever Vince Velasquez, designated for assignment; relievers Charlie Barnes and Yacksel Rios added from Iowa.
Kelly’s eyes widened during Steinmiller’s recitation.
“Good with that?’’ someone asked.
“No,’’ Kelly said with exaggerated dismay. “Where’s our pitching coach? Gotta go talk to him.’’
Welcome to another spin of the Cubs’ Wheel of Pitching Misfortune, a seemingly daily occurrence in which another Cubs pitcher is hurt and President of Baseball Operations Jed Hoyer is forced to scramble for reinforcements.
Martin becomes the 11th pitcher since the start of spring training to go on the injured list, the seventh since the regular season began.
Just in the last 10 days, Hoyer has made a staggering 19 roster moves. Velasquez’s DFA was to make room on the 40-man roster for Rios.
In the meantime, manager Craig Counsell has been forced to hold together the Cubs’ bullpen with baling wire, Scotch tape and paper clips. Friday night against the Dodgers, he was down to three healthy and rested relievers.
Sunday, Counsell used Hoby Milner, who gave up an opposite-field home run to Shohei Ohtani in the seventh for the Dodgers’ final run in their 6-0 win, and Rios, who hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since 2023 but recorded the game’s final five outs.
Frustrating?
“Yeah, I mean, the next guy’s got to do his job,’’ Counsell said. “That’s kind of where we’re at with this. We’ve got guys coming back soon, so that’s a good thing. But again, the injuries…they have an effect, eventually.’’
Counsell said Phil Maton, who has been out since April 6 with knee tendinitis, will be activated during the San Diego series that begins Monday, without specifying a day. Closer Daniel Palencia, out since April 14 with an oblique strain, is scheduled to throw a bullpen Tuesday that should give the staff “a pretty clear idea” how he is progressing, “I think Palencia is going in a good direction,’’ he said.
How soon might he be back? “That would be soonish,’’ the manager said. “Is that a word?”
Whether Merriam-Webster approves or not, Counsell applied the same word when asked for a timetable on Ethan Roberts, who is working his way back from a cut finger. He said the left-hander wants to throw one more time to make sure the cut is fully healed.
And Hunter Harvey (triceps inflammation) will soon be accelerating his recovery to throwing a bullpen.
Cora, Cora, Cora
Third baseman Alex Bregman, who has been close to Alex Cora since their days together in Houston, Bregman as a player and Cora as coach, chose to keep his thoughts to himself when asked about Cora’s firing Saturday night as manager of the Red Sox, where Bregman played last season.
Cora’s firing sent shock waves around baseball. “I’m disappointed,’’ Counsell said. “He’s a very good manager, very good at what he does.’’
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts also weighed in. “I just don’t know enough,’’ he said. “I just know that’s a very good baseball man, and clearly didn’t have a good relationship [with chief baseball officer Craig Breslow]. It’s unfortunate that it didn’t work out because he was such a big part of Red Sox history.
Shaw, seconded
Swiss Army knife Matt Shaw played second base for the first time in the big leagues, with Nico Hoerner moving to short and Dansby Swanson serving as DH. Counsell said he was looking to give Swanson “half a game off” after the Cubs threw 193 pitches Saturday, a season high for a nine inning game. Shaw handled his only three chances cleanly.