The chicago Cubs added another player to the DL with an injury to Matt Szczur. Szczur was assigned to the disabled list on Tuesday, May 3rd. It appeared that he tweaked his right hamstring on a play in the fifth inning during the Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates game on Monday night. Szczur was at third base with David Ross at first. Ross took off for second, attempting to get in a throw down to try to score Szczur from third. He had to come to a quick stop to avoid an errant throw from Josh Harrison.
Szczur, up to this point, had been a valuable piece to the Cubs. He was switching between starting in left fielder and coming off the bench in key situations. He has started, or appeared, in twenty-one of the Cubs twenty-four games thus far. He is currently hitting .367 in thirty at-bats. He has two home runs, including a grand slam, and has driven in ten runs.
With starting right fielder Jason Heyward on the fence with a wrist injury, the next man up will be a combination of Jorge Soler and Javier Baez. Soler has been struggling, batting only .186 in fifty-nine at-bats. Baez, on the other hand, has been swinging the stick much better. Since returning from the DL, Baez has hit .355, with a couple of doubles and a home run.
Ryan Kalish has been called up from Triple-A Iowa to fill the empty roster spot. Kalish has seen 142 games in the majors between his time with the Boston Red Sox and the Cubs. He currently owns a .245 batting average through his MLB career. During his time at Iowa this year, Kalish has been hitting much better. His current slash line is .368/.471/.509. His batting average and on-base percentage both lead the team.
Time should be mostly split between Baez and Soler, with Kalish getting the occasional start and getting plenty of opportunities off the bench. The Chicago Cubs are currently 18-6, even with injuries to key players beginning to pile up.
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