The season isn’t even two-thirds over, and the Chicago Cubs have already lived and played through several twists and turns. Two more came Wednesday, in the form of an injury to a star player, Kris Bryant, and the team sending another notable player, Addison Russell, down to the minors.
This has been an interesting Wednesday for the #Cubs. Willson activated, Russell down to AAA, Lester sick, Chatwood starts, Rizzo ejected, Bryant Out (no reason why yet), Bote in…
— Shae Peppler Cornette (@shaepeppler) July 24, 2019
Up and down
The day started with good news for the Cubs: Star catcher Willson Contreras returned from the injured list after just 10 days, returning to manager Joe Maddon a big presence in the middle of his order.
Accompanying that move, however, was news that once-precocious shortstop Addison Russell was heading to Triple-A Iowa.
Russell has had his own personal ups and downs. He was suspended for violating MLB’s domestic violence policy, with his ex-wife sharing terrible details on social media. His return to baseball was greeted with a mixed reaction, at best, and his performance on the field prompted Wednesday’s move.
“It wasn’t sending him out to send a message, necessarily,” Maddon said, according to ESPN.com. “That wasn’t it. The message is we need to get him better. The primary thing is to get Addison playing baseball like we know that he can.”
It’s been a longgg 5+ innings for Addison Russell at Wrigley. #Cubs @WISH_TV (Courtesy: MLB/WLS) pic.twitter.com/7jaak1rtyF
— Charlie Clifford (@cliffWISH8) July 20, 2019
(Knee) twists and turns
After the pregame moves, the game proceeded about according to plan for the Cubs. Javier Baez homered in the first inning and scored on Kris Bryant’s two-run shot in the third.Tyler Chatwood and five relievers combined to shut down the Giants, and the Cubs won 4-1.
However, Chicago wasn’t quite done with bad news. Bryant, two innings after his homer, left the game with what he called right knee soreness. Bryant said he “tweaked” the knee during pregame batting practice and then twisted it further when his cleat caught in the dirt during the game.
Needless to say, with all of the changes, the Cubs could use one of their lineup stalwarts back in action soon. Bryant hopes to be back as early as Friday.
Kris Bryant exited today’s game with right knee soreness. pic.twitter.com/BZwvNYoS4q
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) July 24, 2019
