Ian Stewart hopes this is the answer, that he wont need surgery to finally fix his sore left wrist.
Stewart returned from the Cleveland Clinic and plans to start a hitting program this weekend after getting a cortisone shot.
The Cubs third baseman said an outside medical opinion indicated a possible compression of the bones in his left hand, which may have pinched some ligaments.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Chicago sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
Hopefully, this works, and I start playing again and hitting and its really a non-issue, Stewart said Wednesday. If it gets to the point where its effecting my swing still, then theres other options that we can take. Hopefully, we dont have to go that route.
Stewart went on the disabled list last week to deal with an injury thats been bothering him off and on since last summer, when he was with the Colorado Rockies. He may just have to deal with it all season.
Stewart also hurt his wrist in 2006 while diving for a ball at their Double-A affiliate. He felt good enough to generate 25 homers for the Rockies in 2009.
While Stewart has been a plus defender, he hasnt been the impact bat (.201 average) the Cubs projected. He already had a cortisone shot before the start of a 10-day road trip at the beginning of this month. This injection was made at a different spot.
News
Its frustrating, Stewart said, because it seems like every time I go in its: Lets just give it a shot and that should work. Its been three or four times now, so its definitely something thats been hard for me to deal with.
It seems like the needle is always a quick fix, and it really hasnt been that way. So hopefully this time it works, and we can just get past this and move on.