Cubs get positive feedback on Willson Contreras’ thigh injury

Ross won’t commit to Contreras being back in the lineup Sunday but says things are moving in the right direction.

SHARE Cubs get positive feedback on Willson Contreras’ thigh injury
Mets_Cubs_Baseball__1_.jpg

AP Photo/Mark Black

CINCINNATI — The Cubs got a positive report on the status of catcher Willson Contreras on Saturday. He was removed during the fifth inning of their 8-6 loss Friday to the Reds with mild soreness in his right thigh.

Contreras was out of the lineup in the Cubs’ 3-2 victory Saturday, with backup Tony Wolters getting the nod behind the plate. But the Cubs think they’ve avoided serious trouble with Contreras.

‘‘Willson feels better,’’ manager David Ross said. ‘‘Today, he’s a little bit sore. I talked to him, and he feels like he could play if he needed to. I don’t think that’s in his best interest right now, but we’ll give him a day to get treatment, go through a little bit of a routine, let the trainer test him out as he gets loosened up and see where we’re at. But I felt like there was a little bit of good news.””

Ross didn’t commit to Contreras being back in the lineup for the series finale Sunday, but he thinks Contreras will return sooner than later.

‘‘We’ll see,’’ Ross said. ‘‘I think it’s a quick turnaround with a day game [Sunday]. If he feels really good, maybe we would push that. But I think we’ll try to be smart. He’s going to have a heavy workload. He’s a guy we’re going to lean on all year, so we’ll be as smart as possible with that. But if he’s telling me he’s ready to go, then I’m playing him.’’

Contreras has a .238/.333/.512 slash line with seven home runs and 16 RBI this season.

Baez’s hitting streak reaches seven

Shortstop Javy Baez might be starting to heat up. He extended his hitting streak to seven games with a single to lead off the sixth inning Saturday and is hitting .310 with a triple, two homers and eight RBI during that span.

‘‘I’m just trying to keep my approach,’’ Baez said before the game. ‘‘He’s got to throw the ball over the plate.’’

One down, one up

The Cubs optioned left-hander Kyle Ryan to Triple-A Iowa and recalled right-hander Keegan Thompson from their alternate site in South Bend, Indiana.

Ryan has pitched two scoreless innings this season with two strikeouts. Thompson’s first appearance with the Cubs will be his major-league debut.

The Latest
Antoine Perteet, 33, targeted victims on the dating app Grindr, according to Chicago police.
Glass-facade buildings can disorient birds in flight. The city is expected to update and revise rules for new developments and rehabbed buildings next month. But bird groups say the proposed guidelines need to be mandatory.
The man was shot in the left eye area in the 5700 block of South Christiana Avenue on the city’s Southwest Side.
Most women who seek abortions are women of color, especially Black women. Restricting access to mifepristone, as a case now before the Supreme Court seeks to do, would worsen racial health disparities.
The Bears have spent months studying the draft. They’ll spend the next one plotting what could happen.