The Cubs officially placed Jon Lester on the injured list Wednesday (retroactive to Tuesday), but it's not yet known what all the ripple effects will be.
The only things we know for certain: Lester will miss at least one start and in that one start (Sunday against the Angels at Wrigley Field), the Cubs will hand Tyler Chatwood the ball.
But funky early-season scheduling and weather changes could have a major impact from there, not to mention Lester's own timetable on that injured left hamstring.
"With Jon, when he's ready to go, he's gonna go," Joe Maddon said Wednesday. "...We're just gonna play this as we go along. We're not gonna create a finish line. Jon's a pretty tough individual and we're gonna keep it open-ended and as he progresses, we'll try to create the finish line."
From there, the Cubs have enough days off already built into their schedule where they could maneuver through with only a four-man rotation (Yu Darvish, Cole Hamels, Kyle Hendricks and Jose Quintana) and they could have even more time off if weather becomes a factor.
After this homestand, the Cubs head to Miami for a quick three-game trip, then are off on Thursday, April 18 before starting another homestand. However, they have yet another day off Monday April 22 and could work it so that they wouldn't even need a fifth starter (and thus could have an extra arm in the bullpen) until Saturday, April 27 in Arizona.
And by then, it'll have been nearly three weeks since Lester hurt his hamstring running the bases.
MLB
The bigger issue isn't how the 3-7 Cubs fill out the rotation, but how they find — and sustain — a rhythm without their ace and Opening Day starter. To date, he had recorded two of the Cubs' three quality starts and has been the most effective pitcher on the entire staff.
"He's our guy; he's our ace," Kyle Hendricks said. "We know we have to pick up some of the slack, but it's the same mindset coming in — just try to win today.
"He's the picture perfect guy for us. He sets up the image we want to have as a staff. He's been that guy that we always look to. He goes out and sets the example for us. It's unfortunate having him go down for a couple here, but we hope it's quick and we can get him back and rolling again."
So it'll be Chatwood on Sunday against Mike Trout (assuming he plays after suffering a groin injury this week), the red-hot Tommy La Stella and the Angels. This will be Chatwood's first start since Aug. 18 of last season.
He signed a 3-year, $38 million deal in free agency before 2018, but found himself out of the rotation by the time the July 31 trade deadline rolled around when the Cubs added Cole Hamels into their starting five. He only made 5 appearances from there, tossing 9.2 innings total.
Chatwood has been pitching out of the bullpen so far in 2019, allowing 4 earned runs and walking 4 batters in 5 innings. He now has handed out 106 free passes (99 walks, 7 hit-by-pitches) in 108.2 innings in a Cubs uniform, compared to only 90 strikeouts.
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