NEW YORK — The Cubs said Sunday that they have no estimated timeline for outfielder Seiya Suzuki’s return from a finger injury, but the former Japanese All-Star sounded like he expects it might take long enough for him to need a minor-league rehab assignment before he returns.
“That’s something I still need to speak to Rossy and Jed about,” Suzuki said through his interpreter after Sunday’s 18-4 loss to the Yankees.
“But obviously with all this time off and all these at-bats I haven’t been able to take at this level, I feel that could be necessary, some rehab at-bats to get to be playing here again.”
Suzuki has just 163 plate appearances in 41 games since signing a five-year, $85 million deal in March after a decorated career in Japan.
RELATED: Suzuki shut down for week as finger issue persists
He has been sidelined since jamming his left ring finger sliding into second base May 26, missing 15 games, with what appears to be at least another week or two sidelined. A rehab assignment at that point could push his return closer to July.
For now, he has been shut down from baseball activity because the swelling in the finger has not gone away since he resumed batting practice and baseball activities over the past week — though he said the finger bothered him less and “was getting a little better” since the team got to Yankee Stadium Friday.
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Suzuki, who met with a doctor outside the team’s medical staff while in New York, made jokes about what the doctor said without acknowledging what the second opinion actually was.
“I kind of forgot,” he said.
But after a meeting with team president Jed Hoyer and manager David Ross on Saturday, it was decided Suzuki would be shut down for a period of time to allow the swelling to fully heal, the resume baseball activities.
Ross referred to that shutdown as a week; Suzuki called it a “couple days” and said he wanted to keep pushing through it.
“Obviously I wanted to play,” he said. “They were listening to my opinions about how we want to move forward, and they also had their take on it as well. So we basically took the middle ground, and that was just to rest these next couple days. And I want to be out there as soonn as possible, so I’m going to just start doing what I can.”
Team officials say surgery was not considered an option, and that they’ve had enough x-rays and MRIs to feel they have an accurate diagnosis — which the medical personnel seem to believe rest will resolve.
If this injury happened while he played in Japan, he might be playing through it, “if it was tolerable,” he said. “But this was as a result of talking with Jed and Rossy, and I think it’s the best decision.
“Obviously, this is just my first year in the majors, and I feel like it’s a learning experience,” he added. “I’m trying to get acclimated to the atmosphere here. I want to make sure I heal it as soon as possible and just be out there soon.”
Hoyer cited the importance of getting the finger 100 percent for the same reason.
“This year is really important for him to assimilate and face big-league pitching and figure out what he needs to do going forward in his career,” Hoyer said. “And coming back and having this nagging injury and not be able to do it well doesn’t make a lot of sense.
“He needs to come back when he can really compete at this level, and it’s hard to do that when your finger is swelling up all the time.”