Cause of rib injury a mystery to Cubs' pitcher Stroman
Marcus Stroman met with reporters Friday to discuss his rib cartilage fracture, but how the injury happened remains a mystery.
After throwing a bullpen session in Toronto on Sunday, Stroman felt pain in his chest and his condition has doctors confounded until he got an MRI exam on Monday in Chicago.
"Medical came, they thought it was my appendix or my gall bladder," Stroman said. "There was a question of whether I could fly or not. Once I landed in Chicago, I went right to the ER."
Stroman spent three hours at the hospital to get those other issues ruled out, then returned the next day for the MRI. The Cubs haven't placed any kind of timeline on his return.
"Pretty scary," Stroman said of the ordeal. "I knew something was up. I had no idea. It's good to find out what it was. I feel like all the doctors know I'm going to fully heal and be back. It's just they don't know if it's three weeks, four weeks, five weeks, six weeks."
In the meantime, Stroman has done some rehab work, but mostly is just sitting around waiting to feel better. He doesn't expect to travel with the team next week.
"It's hard to sleep, it's hard to sit for long periods of time," he said. "I can barely turn right now. Breathing's tough at some points. Taking it day by day, truly, Not even looking past tomorrow.
"I know my body pretty well, so I'm hoping it's fast-tracked and I'm hoping I'm feeling better soon than later and then I can get back on a routine."
Stroman was already on the injured list with right hip inflammation. He last pitched in a game on July 31.
Nothing easy:
Kansas City started the weekend with the second-worst record in MLB, but has gotten better. The Royals unleashed a surprise seven-game win streak from July 28 to Aug. 4, and since the all-star break rank sixth in OPS. The Cubs are third.
"We have the same meetings, we go over the same topics every single day," Cubs manager David Ross said. "We go over the strengths and weaknesses of the other team ... and try to form a plan each and every series. I believe consistency is really important.
"You have to have your process to go out there and compete to the highest level every single day. It doesn't change because of the team on the other side. We were that team last year, made it hard on a lot of other teams that thought we were not very good."
Cubs claim pitcher Uceta:
The Cubs claimed right-handed pitcher Edwin Uceta off waivers from the Mets on Friday and assigned him to Triple A Iowa. A Dominican Republic native, Uceta, 25, has made 25 appearances in the majors with the Mets, Arizona and Dodgers with a 5.80 ERA.
This is the fourth time in 2023 Uceta was claimed off waivers. He went from Arizona to Detroit, then to Pittsburgh and the Mets. He hasn't pitched very much this year, just seven minor league appearances and 1 inning for the Mets.
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