The rigors of rehabbing a serious injury can be an isolating experience for a player.
Reaggravating the injury and forced to repeat the process is especially challenging. Javier Assad’s life the last seven months has nearly solely consisted of working back from a left oblique strain. The Chicago Cubs right-hander has spent most of the season at the team’s complex in Mesa, Ariz., recovering then building up — and unfortunately for the 27-year-old needing to repeat the process.
Assad initially strained his oblique shortly before pitchers and catchers officially reported to spring training in early February. The severity and timeline for him to adequately build up quickly ruled out Assad being ready for the start of the season.
On the cusp of coming off the injured list, Assad reinjured his oblique on a cutter he threw in the fourth inning of his second rehab start with Triple-A Iowa on April 22.
“It was difficult. It was difficult because that’s what I love to do,” Assad said Saturday through an interpreter. “I love to play baseball, I love being here. To be so close to returning and have it happen again, it’s something difficult. It’s something that happened, but now I’m working hard to come back and be healthy.
“It’s the first time that’s happened where I haven’t been healthy to start the season. Things happen for a reason. I’m focused on working hard to be able to return, and thanks to God, we’re doing that.”
Three months later, Assad is preparing to head back to Iowa for a rehab start Wednesday. He joined the team for the City Series against the White Sox this weekend at Rate Field to throw a bullpen in front of Cubs pitching coaches and spend time around teammates he hadn’t seen since March.
Standing in front of his locker in the visitors clubhouse before Saturday’s game, Assad was thrilled to be back around his teammates.
“I had missed being here, seeing the guys, being with the team,” Assad said. “I haven’t missed a game — I’ve watched every game on TV. But it’s going to be different being here in the dugout, cheering them on and — with God’s favor — I can be by their side, which is what I love. I’m happy. I feel close to the team.”
Assad doesn’t believe he rushed back from the initial oblique injury, though there were some adjustments made as he went through the rehab process a second time.
“You work differently and the team gives you a bit more time,” Assad said. “You go a bit slower so that I can come back at 100% and have the time necessary to come back.”
Since Assad debuted in 2022, he has posted a 3.40 ERA and 121 ERA+ over 70 games (47 starts) spanning 294 innings. Among the 77 National League pitchers with at least 250 innings in the last 3½ years, dating to the start of the 2022 season, Assad is tied for 19th in ERA behind the Philadelphia Phillies’ Cristopher Sanchez (3.30) and Cincinnati Reds’ Andrew Abbott (3.32) while notably ahead of the Atlanta Braves’ Spencer Strider (3.51), the Milwaukee Brewers’ Freddy Peralta (3.52) and the Phillies’ Ranger Suárez (3.55).
Getting Assad back with that level of consistency could provide a big boost for the Cubs.
“You see kind of what we’re going through right now and you want to have options for both performance and injuries, frankly,” manager Craig Counsell said Saturday. “And at a certain point after July 31, this is your organization, and you’ve got to rely on the guys in your organization. So from that perspective, we’re turning in a good direction, and we’re going to need all those guys, and probably more, a name that we haven’t seen yet or talked about yet, to help us get through the season.”
“He had delivered quality innings, he had done it in various roles. And so that’s something you miss for sure.”
Assad is expected to build toward a starter workload in his rehab starts with Iowa, though depending on what additions the Cubs make before Thursday’s 5 p.m. trade deadline, he might be more valuable over the last six weeks of the season in a multi-inning relief role, in which he has thrived in the past. Assad also has a minor-league option remaining if the Cubs want to keep him stretched out into September in case of injuries in the rotation. They won’t rule out anything as the Cubs continue to try to get healthy.
“I’ll always try to give it my best,” Assad said. “I’m focused on finishing my rehabilitation and being 100% so that I can come back and help the team in whatever way I can.”
Originally Published: July 26, 2025 at 6:17 PM CDT