I’m trying to stay as positive as I possibly can and I keep pointing to the resiliency that this team has already shown through the first month of the season, but holy shit things keep getting worse. After getting a CT scan, Cody Bellinger doesn’t just have one fractured rib as first thought, the Cubs center fielder has two fractured ribs.
Bellinger got hurt in the fourth inning of Tuesday night’s game against the Houston Astros, as he went back on a fly ball and banged up against the wall. It’s still April, so there wasn’t much cushion from the ivy and while it didn’t look like a major collision, it did more than enough damage to Bellinger.
Pete Crow-Armstrong has been called up to take Bellinger’s place on the 26-man roster. We’ll see how mich Craig Counsell uses PCA, but for tonight it’s going to be Mike Tauchman in center field, while rookie Alexander Canario gets the start in right field.
In the meantime, the Cubs need to sit Crow-Armstrong down and make it very clear to him that there is a brick wall at Wrigley Field. I love PCA’s intensity, but there have been times when he’s been reckless in the outfield during his time in the minor leagues. Cubs can’t afford to lose any more players to injury.
This sucks. But hey, maybe these rookies step up?
(Previous Update)
C’mon, not again. Justin Steele, Julian Merryweather, Seiya Suzuki, Ian Happ had to miss the weekend and now Cubs star Cody Bellinger is hurt???
During Tuesday night’s game against the Houston Astros, Bellinger banged up against the wall in center field trying to catch a Yanier Diaz fly ball. Bellinger couldn’t come up with the ball, initially bobbling it and only getting it under control after it bounced off the wall and back into his glove. It didn’t seem like a big deal at the time as Bellinger continued to play center field for a few more innings and took an at-bat in the fifth inning.
However, in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Cubs were mounting a rally when all of a sudden Alexander Canario was seen taking swings on the on-deck circle. Canario didn’t get to the plate in the sixth inning, but sure enough he came in as part of a double switch to begin the seventh inning with Bellinger exiting.
Bellinger was shown stretching out in the dugout and his night was cut short.
Although Bellinger started slow, he remains a huge part of the Cubs attack on offense and he’s been catching fire in the past week. Bellinger hit a two-run homer in the first inning off J.P. France on Tuesday, which extended his hitting streak to eight games.
Bellinger was obviously a centerpiece for the Cubs in 2023, but he also missed time after suffering an injury that just so happened to come against the Astros and was on a play up against the wall.
Hopefully this time around Bellinger won’t miss a month like he did after banging up his knee in Houston.
The Cubs are going through it right now with some brutal injury luck. The team’s depth continues to be tested, but to their credit they’re holding up through the first four weeks of the regular season.
And it’s a rib injury for Bellinger.
Again, hopefully nothing more than that because it’s not like the Cubs offense is running hot right now and losing Bellinger would sting for sure.
