It was a mixed bag for the Cubs on the injury front Tuesday.
On the same day Eddie Butler was activated from the 60-day disabled list, Yu Darvish threw a 16-pitch bullpen and felt OK after, but Kris Bryant was held out of the lineup as his ailing shoulder flared up.
Bryant missed 16 games with the left shoulder injury in late June/early July and tweaked it again in a swing Monday night.
The Cubs held him out of Tuesday's lineup to be safe and Joe Maddon admitted he may keep the 2016 NL MVP out of Wednesday's game, as well.
"He's a little bit sore and I have to be proactive with that," Maddon said. "I want to make sure that we're not pushing him too hard right now.
"He felt it on a swing a little bit [Monday] and played through it. Didn't feel great afterwards, not feeling that great yet today, so let's not mess with this right now."
When Bryant initially went on the disabled list in late June and the shoulder injury came to light, he and the Cubs thought he might only need the minimum 10 days. His time on the shelf was nearly double that as the Cubs wanted to be extra cautious with their best player.
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Yet still, the issue lingers.
Maddon acknowledged Tuesday he doesn't know if this is something Bryant will have to address after the season. For now, the Cubs are just going to keep trying to manage it the best they can as they enter the stretch run of the regular season and get into what they hope is a long postseason run.
Still, the results just aren't there lately with Bryant, who is hitting only .227 with a .684 OPS in 5 games since the All-Star Break.
"He's trying to make some adjustments," Maddon said. "I like what he was actually doing [Monday] night — the ball actually started going the other way, which he needs to do, I think.
"But it's just not clicking. The ball's not clicking off the bat like we normally see. That home run a couple days ago, that's pretty much been the best contact he's made since this occured.
"He's not used to that. I mean, this is a young guy that's really never been hurt. And when you get hurt and you've not been hurt, how do you react to that mentally and physically? So he's deadling with that right now."
Continuing along the glass-half-empty path with regards to injuries, the Cubs also don't have an update on closer Brandon Morrow, who is on the disabled list with biceps tendinitis.
Morrow is eligible to come off the DL Saturday, but Maddon said Tuesday night there's "nothing new. He's not ready yet. No finish line yet."
Darvish's bullpen, however, was a bit encouraging, though it was only 16 pitches.
"It went well," Maddon said. "There was no real horrible discomfort, so that was a positive."
That's not exactly a ringing endorsement for Darvish's overall health, but hey, it's better than it's been the last month or so for the Cubs' biggest offseason acquisition.
The Cubs are going to evaluate how Darvish feels in the coming days after the brief bullpen session and figure out a plan of attack after that.
Darvish first went on the disabled list Memorial Day weekend with a triceps strain, which later morphed into an elbow impingement throughout the course of his rehab. He received a cortisone shot, but Tuesday was the first time back on a mound since he had to cut his bullpen session short in late June.
The Cubs still don't know what they may get from Darvish in the final two months of the season, if he's even able to return to a mound at all.
But at least this is a second straight step in the right direction for Darvish, who threw off flat ground (135 feet) Sunday with good results.
The Cubs also added a fresh arm to their bullpen with Butler Tuesday, sending Luke Farrell back down to Triple-A Iowa.
Butler — who threw 2 innings in relief Tuesday — last pitched April 19 before going down with a groin injury.
The 27-year-old right-hander may not be the game-changing addition the Cubs bullpen needs for the stretch run, but he is a (very) fresh arm at a time where that currently is in very short supply on the North Side — you know, with all the position players pitching and all.