{"id":1005535,"date":"2026-08-17T01:25:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T01:25:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1005535\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T01:25:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T01:25:16","slug":"chicago-cubs-dansby-swanson-exits-early-due-to-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1005535\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago Cubs: Dansby Swanson exits early due to injury"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Chicago Cubs<\/a> 26-man roster was under the microscope before Sunday\u2019s finale<\/a> against the St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field.<\/p>\n

It only magnified as Dansby Swanson exited after swinging at the first pitch he saw during the Cubs\u2019 11-4 loss to the Cardinals. The shortstop exited with left-side tightness, the team announced, a situation that likely will require a stint on the injured list, said manager Craig Counsell.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t really know anything yet,\u201d Swanson said after the game. \u201cWe\u2019ll find out more tomorrow once we get some imaging done. At that point, everything\u2019s kind of TBD.\u201d<\/p>\n

Swanson was replaced in the lineup by rookie James Triantos, who played second base while Nico Hoerner shifted to short. The Cubs will use Hoerner at short while Swanson is out and will likely mix in another rookie, Pedro Ram\u00edrez, at second base. Ram\u00edrez started at first base for the first time in the big leagues on Sunday with the Cubs, giving Michael Busch a day off at first.<\/p>\n

The Cubs don\u2019t really have a backup first baseman on the roster after the trade deadline and want to find someone who can offer some time off for Busch down the stretch, or in case he goes down like Swanson.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst base is a spot where we\u2019re a little concerned about what\u2019s next should something happen to Michael,\u201d Counsell said before the game. \u201cWe need to get somebody that, at a certain point of the season, is comfortable playing there should a need arise.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Swanson\u2019s injury, and the trickle-down effects from it, weren\u2019t the only roster concern the Cubs faced on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\"ChicagoChicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell, right, pulls Edward Cabrera, center, during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo\/Melissa Tamez)<\/p>\n

The team activated right-hander Edward Cabrera<\/a> from the injured list before the series finale, returning their big offseason acquisition to their rotation. The Cubs traded for the right-hander in the winter, sending top prospects Owen Caissie and Cristian Hern\u00e1ndez to the Miami Marlins.<\/p>\n

His return from the IL before the game meant Javier Assad, who had been one of Counsell\u2019s most versatile pitchers, was sent to Iowa to make room on the 26-man roster. The 29-year-old had a 1.88 ERA since July, making four starts and four relief appearances in that stretch.<\/p>\n

Assad was one of just three pitchers with minor-league options remaining, but the other two \u2014 left-hander Ryan Rolison and right-hander Ryan Zeferjahn \u2014 are leverage arms in Counsell\u2019s bullpen. That meant Assad was the odd man out and will start with Iowa and be a depth option for the major-league team.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think at this point the decision we made was to preserve every pitcher we could,\u201d Counsell said before the game. \u201cAnd certainly, if I was in Javi\u2019s shoes, that doesn\u2019t feel fair. But from a depth perspective, this was a way to preserve everybody and keep maximum depth and move forward with that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cabrera, though, has struggled to live up to the expectations the Cubs hoped for, and that only continued Sunday. The right-hander surrendered seven earned runs on six hits in Sunday\u2019s loss, and saw his ERA balloon to 5.68. It\u2019s the highest mark since he had a 5.81 ERA in 2021, his first season in the big leagues.<\/p>\n

The 28-year-old said Sunday\u2019s woes were due to a blister on his right middle finger. He landed on the IL in late May with a blister. Cabrera began to feel like a blister might be forming early in the game, but tried to pitch through it, not telling Counsell or pitching coach Tommy Hottovy. By the fourth inning, Cabrera could tell there was a blister but attempted to keep going.
But the blister began to affect his command. After a leadoff groundout, he walked three of the next four batters and surrendered three more runs in the frame.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was what affected me there in the last inning,\u201d Cabrera said. \u201cI tried to battle, but I couldn\u2019t finish the inning.\u201d<\/p>\n

It put the Cubs in a hole they couldn\u2019t recover from and gave them even more roster questions.<\/p>\n

\"ChicagoChicago Cubs’ Seiya Suzuki misses a two-RBI double hit by St. Louis Cardinals’ Jordan Walker during the eighth inning of a baseball game, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo\/Melissa Tamez)<\/p>\n

Cabrera\u2019s return to the rotation meant that left-hander David Peterson was \u201ca bullpen option for the time being,\u201d Counsell said. Peterson was acquired from the New York Mets in a June trade and had a 4.19 ERA in eight starts so far this season.<\/p>\n

The Cubs expected some rust from Cabrera in his return, but the persistent command issues \u2014 he\u2019s walked two or more batters in 10 of his 15 starts \u2014 have thrown his rotation status into doubt.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to have to talk about that, yeah,\u201d Counsell said when asked if Cabrera would get another start.<\/p>\n

Cabrera has made just two appearances in his six seasons in the majors out of the bullpen, but the Cubs don\u2019t necessarily have the time to give him a chance to figure it out, especially with other options like Peterson, Assad and Colin Rea available as starting depth.<\/p>\n

And the injury won\u2019t be an excuse for Cabrera to miss time, either.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a blister,\u201d he said. \u201cI have had those in the past. In my mind, I\u2019m not going to miss a start over a blister.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andy Martinez is a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Chicago Cubs 26-man roster was under the microscope before Sunday\u2019s finale against the St. Louis Cardinals at…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1005536,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5124],"tags":[960,1271,1816,402486,402484,402485,5386,1818,273102,63313,13715,273103,3692,1272],"class_list":["post-1005535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago","tag-chicago","tag-chicago-cubs","tag-craig-counsell","tag-cubs-roster-moves","tag-dansby-swanson-injury","tag-edward-cabrera-blister","tag-il","tag-illinois","tag-james-triantos","tag-javier-assad","tag-nico-hoerner","tag-pedro-ramirez","tag-st-louis-cardinals","tag-wrigley-field"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117108247700520036","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1005535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1005535"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1005535\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1005536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1005535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1005535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1005535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}