PITTSBURGH – Team president Theo Epstein admitted the Cubs have one chance to get this right with Yu Darvish. Another setback essentially means wait until pitchers and catchers report to spring training next year.
The Cubs invested $126 million in Darvish with the thought that he would anchor their rotation. They slowly downgraded their expectations as his right arm experienced triceps tendinitis and elbow impingement/inflammation, sidelining him since late May.
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But the Cubs might not be able to think of Darvish as a bonus anymore or optimistically spin his return as the best trade-deadline move they could make. Just when it felt like the rotation started to create a sense of momentum, the Cubs placed Mike Montgomery on the 10-day disabled list on Friday with left shoulder inflammation, putting them in scramble mode again.
Lefty reliever Randy Rosario is back from Triple-A Iowa. Tyler Chatwood will face the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday at PNC Park. Darvish will go through a rehab start on Sunday at Class-A South Bend, where he last pitched on June 25.
“Getting Darvish back has been important all the way through,” manager Joe Maddon said. “This is unexpected, not good, Monty’s hurt. But in a perfect world right now, Tyler throws well, Monty’s not out too long and Yu pitches well on Sunday. And all of a sudden, you go from this dire moment to something that maybe in a perverse way actually benefits us.
“Chatwood gets a start, all of a sudden, he finds himself. Monty gets 100 percent well and here comes Yu. I want to believe we’re on the verge of that happening. And it’s definitely a possibility.”
Where Epstein’s front office has to look at the big picture and prepare for worst-case scenarios, Maddon always tries to think about the positives and only worries about what he can control.
The Cubs needed to acquire Cole Hamels from the Texas Rangers because Chatwood put up an ERA around 5.00 and still leads the majors with 90 walks – in the first season of a three-year, $38 million contract. This isn’t a phantom injury or the reason why the Cubs recently skipped Montgomery’s turn in the rotation or a preventative measure to conserve the lefty swingman’s innings. Darvish’s first 40 innings as a Cub featured one win in eight starts and a 4.95 ERA.
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“Listen, it is what it is,” Maddon said. “There’s nothing you can do about it.”
Speaking through a translator, Darvish wasn’t interested in detailing his timetable or sharing the emotions he’s feeling as he ramps up his throwing program. (Earlier this week, pitching coach Jim Hickey told 670 The Score that Darvish is scheduled for minor-league rehab starts on Aug. 19, 24 and 29.)
“I want to take things slowly,” Darvish said. “I’m just hoping that everything will be settled and fine.”
Darvish also didn’t want to get into a line of questioning about his motivations to showcase his talents after a disappointing debut and the way Alex Rodriguez attacked his character on “Sunday Night Baseball.”
“I want to come back to the big-league level,” Darvish said, “and then hopefully pitch better than my last big-league outing. I want to come back stronger than ever.
“Instead of showing someone that I can prove something, it’s just at this point to contribute to the team’s winning. I’ll throw whatever I have out there.”
Even with Darvish, superstar third baseman Kris Bryant (left shoulder inflammation) and lights-out closer Brandon Morrow (right biceps inflammation) on the disabled list, the Cubs still have the National League’s best record and a 98 percent chance to make the playoffs, according to the simulations on FanGraphs.
But the healthy, confident Darvish who shut down the Cubs for the Los Angeles Dodgers during last year’s NLCS would be a game-changer for a team with World Series ambitions.
“I get the same guy every time I talk to him,” Maddon said. “I don’t think that he feels any added pressure or a need to demonstrate to anybody. I think he was hurt and he just wanted to get better. My conversations with Yu are consistent. He’s always the same cat every time I speak with him, so he didn’t indicate to me anything more urgent about him getting out there right now.
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“It’s just a matter of, ‘I feel better. My arm’s not hurting. And I think I’m ready to get back into this thing.’ That’s been the conversation all year. It’s never been: ‘I got to get back and prove it.’ I’ve not heard that from him. It’s more this feeling in his arm has been holding him back and now all of a sudden he’s feeling better.”
Maybe the idea of the Cubs operating at full strength and peaking at the right time is just an illusion and this team will have to continue to find different ways to win.
Just as Hamels looked reenergized pitching in meaningful games and Kyle Hendricks clicked his mechanics into place and Jon Lester found some answers to his post-All-Star-break struggles, Montgomery tested his left shoulder during Thursday’s bullpen session at PNC Park and again felt something beyond normal soreness.
“It’s frustrating, but I got to get it right,” Montgomery said. “I don’t think it’s too far off. Just a little discomfort there when I go a little bit more game speed. But I’m pretty optimistic that it’s going to go quick and be a good chance for me to get a little breather, build up the strength, so I can come back and keep performing at a high level.”
Signing Darvish right before camp opened bumped Montgomery to the bullpen. Instead of sulking, Montgomery kept working, stayed ready for the next opportunity and rescued the rotation by going 4-3 with a 3.08 ERA in 13 starts. With Montgomery injured – and the Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals charging ahead in the NL Central race – Darvish’s return looms even larger.
“If it was the World Series, obviously, you’re going to pitch through anything,” Montgomery said. “But to stay pitching at a high level – and not risk really injuring something that could cost me the season – it’s a smart thing to do to get it right.”
(Top photo: Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
