Javier

Assad

Assad allowed three hits, walked one and struck out five. He’s pitched 12 1/3 scoreless innings versus the Giants his last two times out, lowering his ERA from 5.88 to 3.99. Unfortunately, he’ll have to face a more forward-thinking team in the Rockies next time out. He’ll just have to prepare a little harder, most likely.

Not good. Counsell added that Boyd experienced shoulder soreness following his final minor league rehab start and wasn’t feeling right after a bullpen session earlier this week. There should be a clearer return timeline for the 35-year-old southpaw, who is coming back from knee surgery last month, once he resumes throwing in the coming days. It’ll be Javier Assad taking the ball against the Giants at Oracle Park this weekend in his place.

What a great effort from Assad, who still seemed to have something left in the tank while being removed after 72 pitches. He’s going to need at least three and probably four days off, so most likely, his reward for tonight will be a return to Triple-A Iowa’s roster. But if the Cubs put Taillon on the IL and bring in a fresh arm that way, perhaps there’s the chance Assad could stick.

Assad fortifies Chicago’s overworked bullpen after the club burned through five relievers following Edward Cabrera’s abbreviated outing against the Giants on Friday afternoon. He provides the Cubs with some additional long relief depth for the rest of the weekend series against San Francisco.

Assad has struggled in a hybrid role for the Cubs this season, posting a 5.88 ERA, 1.27 WHIP and a 14/7 K/BB ratio over 26 innings in eight appearances (three starts). He’ll return to the rotation at Triple-A Iowa where he’ll likely be the next man up the next time the Cubs require an extra starter. Ty Blach was promoted from Triple-A Iowa in a corresponding move on Sunday.

The Cubs’ starting pitcher corps has been depleted by injuries, so they called on Brown to return to their rotation and he delivered them four quality innings. He leaned on his knuckle-curve as his primary pitch and it forced five of his nine total swings-and-misses. Also, his fastball didn’t lose much velocity despite him throwing 46 pitches, the most he’s thrown in a single outing since March 31st. Javier Assad threw bulk innings in relief later in this game and it feels like these two could be in a piggy-back situation moving forward. If Brown sticks in the rotation for another turn, he’ll face the Braves in Atlanta.

Assad did a great job of keeping the Cubs in the game, giving up only a solo homer to MJ Melendez, but it might not stop the Cubs from sending him down Monday. Expectations are that Matthew Boyd will return to take Assad’s rotation spot next time through.

On the plus side, Boyd racked up six strikeouts on the afternoon while allowing only one base on balls. He threw 64 pitches in the contest — 46 of them for strikes — while his fastball topped out at 94.5 mph. The expectation is that he’ll now be cleared to rejoin the Cubs’ rotation next week, likely at the expense of Jaiver Assad.

This was a rough one. Assad served up a staggering 11 hits, including a pair of home runs to Kyle Schwarber. Pretty much the only positive here is that he was able to work into the middle innings to somewhat save Chicago’s bullpen. It was an unexpected meltdown after a strong season debut against the Rays last week. Assad figures to be the odd man out once Matthew Boyd (biceps) is ready to return from the injured list at some point next week. He remains in line to take the ball against the Mets on Sunday.

Assad scattered one hit while striking out three and issuing a pair of walks during an impressive season debut in place of an injured Matthew Boyd (biceps). The 28-year-old righty carried a no-hit bid into the fifth inning before Rays speedster Chandler Simpson reached on an infield single to second base. Here’s an oversimplification: He’s not going back to Triple-A Iowa after this performance, especially with Cade Horton (elbow) set to miss the rest of the season. He’ll get the ball on Monday against the Phillies in a road matchup before facing the Mets to close out a two-start week. There’s some streaming appeal here in extremely deep mixed leagues.