During Wednesday night’s game against the Baltimore Orioles Cubs outfielder Cody Bellinger was hit on his left hand by a 97mph fastball that forced him to exit early. On Thursday, as the Cubs prepare for their series finale against the Orioles Triple-A outfielder Alexander Canario appears to be Bellinger’s replacement.
This signals that Bellinger will indeed miss extended time and will be placed on the injured list.
Canario, 24, is slashing .238/.330/.502, with 16 home runs in 59 games with the Iowa Cubs this season. The right-handed hitter has had brief stints in the majors and in 13 games in the big leagues this year Canario has gone 6-for-22 at the plate. He does have a lot of swing and miss at the plate, as Canario struck out 11 times in 25 plate appearances when he was up earlier in 2024.
However, it’s Pete Crow-Armstrong who will benefit the most from Bellinger’s absence because now he’ll surely become the every-day center fielder besides sitting against tough left-handed pitching.
(Previous Update)
The Cubs picked up their third win in a row, earning a 4-0 victory, but Cody Bellinger exited Wednesday night’s game against the Baltimore Orioles after getting hit on his left hand by a pitch in the seventh inning. The Cubs outfielder was not comfortable gripping and throwing a baseball after the middle finger on his left hand took the brunt of the hit by pitch. Now, the Cubs are waiting to see if Bellinger will have to miss an extended period of time with the All-Star break nearing.
Bellinger initially stayed in the game after getting drilled by left-handed reliever Cionel Perez, who unleashed a 97mph sinker that missed its mark on a 1-2 delivery. After the top of the seventh inning ended Bellinger was replaced by Miles Mastrobuoni in right field.
The Cubs and Bellinger will wait for the swelling to go down and see what the results say from a CT scan before determining the next steps.
Bellinger ended the game 2-for-3 at the plate in addition to the hit by pitch. He singled to center field in the first inning and then reached again on an infield hit to begin the third. Although Bellinger hasn’t completely gone downhill in 2024, the big free agent signing certainly hasn’t lived up to expectations following his bounce back campaign in 2023.
Dating back to May 21, Bellinger has posted a 92 wRC+ and his last home run came on June 12, against the Tampa Bay Rays. Overall this season, Bellinger is slashing .269/.331/.410, with 9 home runs. The left-handed hitter missed a couple of weeks earlier in the season because of a rib fracture.
If Bellinger has to miss time, then Pete Crow-Armstrong will surely get most if not all the starts in center field. If it’s something more serious and Bellinger has to go on the injured list, don’t expect Owen Caissie to get called up because he’s been sidelined with back tightness since last week.
Mike Tauchman is working himself back from a groin injury, but after being out since the middle of June he’s headed to Arizona to play in Complex League games. Tauchman could be back soon, but the earliest timetable seems to be following the All-Star break.
The Cubs wrap up their series in Baltimore on Thursday and then they head to St. Louis for a four-game series against the Cardinals, which includes a double header on Saturday.
While the Cubs remain 10 games back of the Milwaukee Brewers in the Central Division, a mediocre National League still has Chicago in the playoff mix. After Wednesday’s slate of games, the Cubs are now within 3.5 games of the third Wild Card spot. That being said, the Cubs still have to pass six teams that are ahead of them.
