Friday was a good-bad-ugly kind of day for the health of the Cubs’ pitching staff.
Left-hander Matthew Boyd said he’s on target to return to the rotation Wednesday, the team put closer Daniel Palenica on the 15-day injured list and manager Craig Counsell said Cade Horton could miss 16 months after undergoing elbow surgery.
With a run of misfortune that has 10 pitchers on the injured list, the Cubs were due for some good news. They finally got it after Boyd, who has been out with a biceps strain, threw 3⅔ innings for Triple-A Iowa on Thursday.
“Things went good. I feel really good today,” said Boyd, who allowed three runs, four hits and a walk with six strikeouts in Columbus, Ohio. “That’s the important thing. Everything feels normal for the day after a pitch. Excited for Wednesday, and we’ll build toward that each day.”
Boyd last pitched April 1, when he threw 98 pitches in 5⅔ innings against the Angels and struck out 10. But the conditions — 39 degrees at first pitch with 21 mph winds — might have been a factor in the injury. He wasn’t wearing long sleeves.
“It had nothing to do within the outing,” Boyd said. “I’m sure the weather had something to do with it, [and] sitting for 20-plus minutes in cold weather. You’re throwing more reps down below because you’re trying to stay ready for that inning. There’s always different little dynamics that can change, all these different stressors that are not consistent from start to start.”
The Cubs had sent 10 men to the plate in a five-run third inning.
“I have over my career pitched through a lot of things, and you learn from those experiences,” Boyd said. “You’re not asking to be on the IL. It’s more, ‘Hey, this is how I’m feeling, let’s monitor it. … Sometimes it’s better to take a breather.”
Palencia will do just that after going on the IL with a left oblique strain, retroactive to Tuesday. The Cubs did not announce a corresponding move. Palencia last pitched Sunday, when he threw the ninth inning and earned the win in a 7-6, comeback victory against the Pirates. He has one save and hasn’t allowed a run in five innings this season.
Meanwhile, Horton’s star-crossed Cubs career took another turn with the news that he could miss 16 months after having surgery on his ulnar collateral ligament. Horton left his start April 3 after one inning, and the Cubs put him on the injured list with a right forearm strain. He had been expected to miss the rest of this season.
“When something like this happens, the only thing you can do is worry about what’s next,” Counsell said. “Putting that on some big timeframe isn’t very helpful. [With] Cade, we talked about just worry about today and make today the best you can and keep doing that. That’s how you somehow speed this process along. If you get too far ahead of yourself, that doesn’t help.”
Elsewhere, Counsell said reliever Phil Maton (right knee tendinitis) will throw a bullpen session Saturday.
“It’s an important bullpen,” Counsell said. “We’ve reached the stage where this is the next test. We don’t know how he’s gonna feel off the mound. Can he drive off the mound the way he wants to?”
