Cubs right-hander Jake Arrieta is on track to return from the 10-day injured list to take the mound Friday at Detroit.
Cubs manager David Ross announced the update on Arrieta’s cut thumb Sunday, adding that Arrieta’s bullpen session the day before “went well.” Arrieta is scheduled for another bullpen in Cleveland, where the Cubs start their upcoming road trip.
In Arrieta’s last start, an 8-6 Cubs loss at Cincinnati on April 30, he pitched with the cut on his thumb glued shut. He allowed seven runs in 3 1/3 innings.
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“I was adjusting the way I threw pretty much everything,” Arrieta said after landing on the IL. “So, it’s the right way to go: miss one (start) and be back out there first game in Detroit.”
Even with that rough outing, Arrieta (3-3, 4.31 ERA) has the best ERA of any Cubs starter this season.
Having three off-days in a little over a week worked in the Cubs’ favor when scheduling Arrieta’s time on the IL. He did not pitch in the Cubs’ three-game sweep of the Dodgers last week, with rookie Keegan Thompson making his first major-league start instead. But Arrieta is expected to slide back into the starting rotation this next time through.
The Cubs backdated the beginning of Arrieta’s IL stint to May 3. He served as a pinch hitter in the Cubs’ extra-innings loss at Cincinnati the day prior, when the Cubs ran out of bench players due to injuries. Under different circumstances, Arrieta could have started the 10-day clock closer to his last start, allowing him to instead return at Cleveland.
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"Which is fine,” Arrieta said of the timing. “It would have been nice to have been one day sooner, but that’s just how it worked out. With the off days, it gives me extra time to get this thing back to 100 percent and only miss one go-around.”