The Cubs announced they were activated Markus Stroman from the COVID-19 injured list. He’ll take the ball against the Diamondbacks tonight, and rightly so Michael Rucker Landed on 15-day injured list due to turf toe. Stroman hadn’t counted against the 40-man roster on the COVID IL, and the Cubs cleared a spot for his reinstatement by changing the starter Alec Mills from the 15-day to the 60-day IL.
Stroman signed a three-year, $71 million guarantee as part of an aggressive Cubs offseason. He has made five starts with his new team and pitched 26 1/3 innings with 5.13 ERA balls. Stroman’s typically excellent groundball rate has dropped to a more usual 45.6% early on, but that’s probably not much more than an example blip. The 31-year-old’s speed, strikeout and walk numbers are all consistent with 2021 readings, though he’s also seen a drop in swinging strikes.
In any case, Stroman returns to take the ball again every fifth day from skipper David Ross. He will be included in the rotation of Kyle HendricksOffseason signee Drew Smyly, Wade Miley and Justin Steele. That group looked like a problem heading into the season, and the Cubs are in the bottom ten in the league in terms of rotational ERA (4.45) and strikeout rate (18.5%), despite failing at the generation of grounders (46.1%) were one of the top ten groups. .
Mills was a significant member of the rotation last season, starting in 20 of his 32 appearances. He posted a 5.07 ERA but threw strikes and induced grounders on more than half of the balls batted against him, setting him up as a back-of-the-rotation option. He opened the season on the injured list with a back strain and also struggled with a quad problem.
Today’s transfer is largely a procedural move as it locks out Mills for 60 days from opening day, not today. He may not return to the big leagues until the first week of June, which didn’t seem likely anyway considering he has yet to start a minor league rehab assignment. Mills recently hosted a live batting practice session, but the inaugural phase of a new ramp-up program.