Rowan Wick Likely Out for Rest of 2020, Cubs Activate LHP Andrew Chafin
Well, it looks like the Cubs didn’t have to part with one of their little-used lefties to make room for Andrew Chafin after all. The lefty, who was acquired at the deadline from the Diamondbacks, was activated Saturday and slides into the spot left vacant by Rowan Wick’s move to the IL with a left oblique strain.
That’s bad news for the back end of the bullpen, where Wick was one of David Ross’s most trusted pitchers. Ryan Tepera’s cutter might play back there and Jason Adam has been looking really good lately, but those guys don’t have quite same zip as Wick. I probably shouldn’t mention that Jeremy Jeffress looks like he’s ready for a little regression here soon, so I won’t say anything at all about that.
David Ross just said Rowan Wick's injury is "pretty bad" and it sounds like it's likely he's out for the rest of the season and whatever playoff run the Cubs make. Ross calls it a "huge loss."
— Sahadev Sharma (@sahadevsharma) September 19, 2020
Ross described Wick’s injury as “pretty bad,” indicating that the righty will almost certainly be out for the rest of the regular season and whatever playoff run the Cubs make. Now it’s time for Craig Kimbrel to step back into more high-leverage spots and keep pitching like he has lately. The erstwhile closer might need to take his role back out of necessity, a move that would really help the Cubs out as long as he keeps shutting opponents down.
And hey, maybe Chafin will be a dude again. That would be nice. He’s been a solid bullpen arm in the past, but he’s not a back-end type of pitcher. While he’s capable of missing some bats, he’ll walk his fair share of hitters and was rarely ever used in save situations during his salad days in Arizona.
As Ross said, Wick being out is indeed a “huge loss” that will be tough to overcome. Unless, of course, the Cubs finally pull the trigger on a move they should have already made and call up Brailyn Marquez.
