Young southpaw Wade Miley was shut down for the next 10 days after an MRI found inflammation in his limb. There’s no known timeline for Miley’s return, but the shutdown period means Miley will start the season on the injured list. This could delay Miley’s season debut until late April or even early May, but Cubs executives DavidRoss told reporters (including Meghan Montemurro from the Chicago Tribune) that Miley’s injury isn’t seen as a big issue.
Miley’s absence creates at least a temporary hole in Chicago’s rotation. Miley was projected as the third starter behind Markus Stroman and Kyle Hendrickswith Drew Smyly (another off-season veteran acquisition) who now wants to move up a spot in the starting XI. Alec Mills, Justin Steeleand Keegan Thompson are the top candidates for the last two rotation spots, albeit with options like juniors Brailyn Marquez, Anderson Espinoza and Cory Abbottand non-roster veterans like Steven Brault and Adrian SamsonThe Cubs have many options, albeit many question marks.
Miley was one of the first players to switch teams this offseason when the Reds surprisingly put him on waivers instead of just paying the $1 million buyout of Miley’s $10 million club option for 2022. This gives Chicago much-needed depth of rotation for veterans at the expense of a cost-cutting division rival.
Beginning his season at age 35, Miley has been a fairly durable pitcher for much of his career, although he only pitched 14 1/3 innings in the shortened 2020 season due to groin and shoulder problems. Miley bounced back with a solid performance in 2021, posting a 3.37 ERA and a 49.4% grounder rate over 163 innings for Cincinnati, relying on soft contact and above-average control to make up for his lack of strikeouts or fastball speed to counteract.
Another newly acquired Cub could also begin his tenure in Wrigleyville with the IL as Montemurro tweets this short stop Andrelton Simmons still working on right shoulder pain. Simmons has thrown, but getting fully finished by opening day may not be feasible given the veteran only played in one spring practice game.