Could Cole Hamels injury mean extended big-league stay for Cubs’ Adbert Alzolay?

CINCINNATI — Once Cubs catching prospect Miguel Amaya got the news Friday morning that he’d been selected to play in the All-Star Futures Game, he quickly texted his congratulations to the other Cubs prospect to make it.

And then he had one more message for promising rookie right-hander Adbert Alzolay: “Hopefully you stay out there [in the majors] and don’t come back.”

“That’s the whole point,” Alzolay said. “You just want to stay here.”

By Friday, Alzolay had earned a second big-league start, on Monday at Pittsburgh.

And a few hours later, his odds of sticking past Monday seemed to dramatically and unexpectedly improve, with starter Cole Hamels forced from Friday’s start against the Reds with an injury to his left side.

Alzolay, 24, said before the game that a long-relief appearance and a starting debut have him “feeling really confident right now” for his next assignment.

“Talking to these guys here has helped a lot,” he said. “Having guys like [Kyle Hendricks] next to you during the game, just talking to you about stuff — he’s really good. And I’ve been following [Jose] Quintana, too, watching him, his routine. It’s pretty awesome.

“There’s a lot of things that you learn real fast here from guys. Our starting rotation, to me, is one of the best in baseball right now, if you go name by name. It’s crazy.”

Alzolay, one of just four homegrown pitchers to make a start in the Theo Epstein era, will join Jen-Ho Tseng as the only homegrown pitchers to make more than one.