Cody Bellinger Begins Rehab Assignment Tuesday in Iowa, Seiya Suzuki Dealing with ‘Precautionary Stuff’
Cody Bellinger has been out of action for nearly a month since hyperextending his left knee following a tremendous catch at the wall in Houston. The Cubs initially hoped he’d be able to return quickly, then came the IL stint that has unsurprisingly coincided with a really rough stretch for the offense. Bellinger recently headed to Arizona to ramp up and now he’s in Iowa to begin what we hope will be a brief rehab stint.
Cody Bellinger is expected to begin his rehab assignment TONIGHT at Principal Park.
Get your tickets here: https://t.co/1q2qKFAlgV pic.twitter.com/iAp8qmAr1O
— Iowa Cubs (@IowaCubs) June 13, 2023
“Cody is one of those guys, his mentality in the dugout, the way he carries himself, his presence in the locker room, there’s just so much to like about him,” David Ross told 670 The Score’s Bernstein & Holmes. “Yeah, we miss him, but hopefully we get him back real soon.”
Bellinger isn’t the only outfield regular who’s been out of action lately, as Seiya Suzuki was on the bench for the last two games in San Francisco with an undisclosed issue. Ross would only go so far as to quote Blink-182 by saying Suzuki had some small things. Work sucks, I know.
“He’s just got some stuff that’s taking a little while, just precautionary stuff,” Ross said in that same radio hit. “We’ll see how he checks out and go from there.”
Forgive me for being Debbie Downer, but I immediately go to the worst possible scenario when a Cubs player sits for more than a day and the team downplays it. Getting Bellinger back only to have Suzuki replace him on the IL would be less than ideal, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed and willing them both to be back in time for the Cubs to gain ground on the Pirates over the next several days.
Update: Tommy Birch of the Des Moines Register tweeted Tuesday afternoon that Miles Mastrobuoni, who was optioned to Triple-A on Friday, has not yet arrived at Principal Park. As we subsequently learned, that’s because Mastrobuoni is back in Chicago. Since he’s not been down the requisite length of time yet, this is very likely an injury replacement.
FYI Cubs fans Mike's Mastrobuoni is back up. Just took this pic of hom arriving. Don't know who he is replacing.#cubs pic.twitter.com/jP1YOPiQQR
— Sam Bernero (@sambernero) June 13, 2023
That probably means Suzuki to the IL, but my fingers just got tighter.
Update 2: Not Suzuki!
Seiya Suzuki is back in the lineup for the Cubs today. Batting third, playing right field.
— Ryan Herrera (@ryan_a_herrera) June 13, 2023
