Cubs' Stroman stops fighting hip injury, goes on IL
Marcus Stroman's health wasn't passing the eye test lately, and the Cubs made it official Wednesday by placing the right-handed pitcher on the 15-day injured list with right hip inflammation.
Stroman said he received a cortisone shot Wednesday and, in a couple days, will begin a strength and stretching program.
"(It's bothered me) for a bit now," Stroman said. "Just kind of one of those things that lingered, progressively got worse and got to a point where I couldn't fire my glute, my quad, nothing around my hip at all."
Stroman is one of the shorter pitchers in the major leagues, so he probably does have to work a little harder on the mound to generate power. Over time, he thinks it just wears on his hip muscles.
His most recent outing Monday against the Reds lasted just 3 innings, giving up 6 runs. Over his last seven starts, his ERA is 9.00. The one good start he had was against Boston after he got an extra few days of rest during the all-star break.
"I've been trying to change mechanics and do a lot of things, honestly, to get around it," he said. "Just at the point where I couldn't do too much more to change and feel like I wasn't throwing like 140-150% out there.
"I felt like I had to do so much, essentially just throwing all upper body and arm. Taking a break and getting in the weight room and doing what I need to do, I feel like it's just going to springboard me to where I was and where I need to be."
Stroman and manager David Ross talked about him missing just one start. That would be Saturday against Atlanta. After that, the Cubs have three off-days in a span of eight days. So they could use four starters and still give the pitchers an extra day of rest before they'll need Stroman's spot on Monday, Aug. 21, at Detroit. That would be three weeks between starts if Stroman returned for that game.
Ross wouldn't name a replacement starter, but Hayden Wesneski is the obvious choice.
"I think it was just best for everybody," Ross said. "Stro can get back to a sound mechanical delivery and feeling good, work on some things and make sure he's completely healthy when he does set foot on the bump again."
Before this rough stretch, which began in London on June 25, Stroman had a 2.28 ERA and was chosen for the All-Star Game, but declined to participate.
"Mentally, I'm pretty solid," he said. "I've been through plenty of ups and downs at this point in my career. I'm very confident in who I am as a pitcher and I know when I'm right what I'm capable of. So it's just a matter of getting right and getting strong so I can help this team in the push."
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