Cubs put Jason Heyward (finger) on DL, send Matt Szczur to Padres

SHARE Cubs put Jason Heyward (finger) on DL, send Matt Szczur to Padres
screen_shot_2017_05_08_at_8_03_40_pm.png

Jason Heyward’s sprained finger put him on the DL for the first time since signing with the Cubs before last season.

DENVER — Cubs right fielder Jason Heyward, who jammed his right hand on a diving catch Friday, was put on the 10-day disabled list Monday for a sprained finger on the hand.

Heyward hasn’t played since the injury, and the move is retroactive to May  6, making him eligible to return May 16, when the Cubs open their next homestand with a game against the Cincinnati Reds.

Right-hander Dylan Floro was promoted from Class AAA Iowa to join the Cubs’ overworked bullpen in time for Monday’s series opener in Colorado, which was postponed by rain and hail and will be played as the first half of a day-night doubleheader Tuesday. Floro gives the Cubs a nine-man bullpen for this series after their relievers combined to throw 19‰ innings Saturday and Sunday — the most in a two-game span for the Cubs’ bullpen in 35 years. (They pitched 20 innings over Aug.  17-18, 1982.)

Szczur traded

Outfielder Matt Szczur was traded to the San Diego Padres for minor-league pitcher Justin Hancock.

Szczur, who had played all three outfield spots for the Cubs, was designated for assignment Saturday to make room for left-hander Rob Zastryzny to be promoted from Iowa to help the depleted bullpen.

Hancock, 26, who spent his first six professional seasons as a starter, was 0-2 with a 6.23 ERA in 10 relief appearances this year for the Padres’ Class AA affiliate (with 11 strikeouts and seven walks in 13 innings). The Cubs assigned him to Class AA Tennessee.

Rizzo bruised, not broken

First baseman Anthony Rizzo was back in the lineup before the weather postponement despite a bad bruise and achiness in his left forearm from being hit by a 99 mph pitch from New York Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman on Sunday night.

“It’s sore, but not any more sore than any time I’ve been hit with a pitch,” said Rizzo, who got an X-ray between innings after he was hit in the ninth. He stayed in the game for the rest of the 18-inning marathon, even doubling despite flexing and rubbing the area the rest of the game.

“It was fine, not broken,” he said. “No issue.”

Hall pass?

Three weeks after widespread attention over the Cubs’ unprecedented delay in providing the Hall of Fame with World Series artifacts, Hall reps were in the clubhouse Monday working with players to try to secure loans of game-used items. The officials got clearance from the team to take that approach.

Two-time postseason hitting hero Kyle Schwarber plans to let the Hall borrow one of his game-worn home jerseys from the World Series for a display officials hope to have completed around Memorial Day.

Traditionally, the Hall has reps in the victors’ postgame clubhouse in the hours after the World Series clincher, securing items on loan for displays that have typically been completed by the end of the same year. But Cubs officials balked at the requests after the team’s Game 7 victory in Cleveland.

Follow me on Twitter @GDubCub.

Email: gwittenmyer@suntimes.com

RELATED STORIES

Cubs’ bullpen gets needed rainout in Denver; doubleheader on tap

No time to panic for Cubs, but it is time to (try to) forget 2016

The Latest
White Sox fans from all over will flock to Guaranteed Rate Field on Thursday for the team’s home opener against the Tigers.
Archer Courts, 2242 S. Princeton Ave., will soon get a new hot water system, ventilation system and rooftop solar panels through a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Leasure will make his major league debut on Thursday.
The funds will help target a big problem for a city opening its doors to President Joe Biden and the Democratic National Convention in August. Just 17.94% of registered voters in suburban Cook County and 25.7% of registered voters in Chicago voted in the March 19 primary.
Playing time has dwindled for Tinordi, a physical defensive defenseman who was a pleasant surprise for the Hawks last season but hasn’t found nearly as much success without Connor Murphy.