Jake Marisnick, Jason Heyward making progress from hamstring strains

ST. LOUIS — Outfielders Jake Marisnick and Jason Heyward, who are on the 10-day injured list, are trending in the right direction. Both have increased their baseball activities.

Marisnick has been on the IL with a strained right hamstring since May 11 and is building up in his progression. He had a moderate strain, requiring a little more time on the shelf.

Heyward, who went on the IL on Thursday with a strained left hamstring, has started doing light agility work with the training staff and might be back sooner rather than later if things continue to progress.

Heyward might not need a rehab assignment before returning, but Cubs manager David Ross thought Marisnick could use a few at-bats before coming back.

“I don’t think anytime immediate,” Ross said about their returns. “I talked to J-Hey; he said it went well today. Talked to the trainers, they said it went well today. They’ll continue to progress in that kind of rehab mode. . . . Maybe 10 days isn’t a huge stretch to get your timing and all that.

“Right now, Marisnick at some point will probably need to take some kind of rehab assignment. J-Hey, depending on if this thing continues to bounce back very fast, we may just activate him when he’s ready. So I’ll talk to him about that and the trainers, but I don’t want to put any [definitive] timelines on those guys.”

Right-hander Alec Mills will make a rehab start for Triple-A Iowa on Sunday as he returns from a lower-back strain that has kept him out since April 30. Righty Trevor Megill (strained right forearm) will throw a live BP in Iowa.

Adam has surgery after severe injury

Cubs right-hander Jason Adam underwent successful surgery to repair a compound dislocation of his left ankle Friday. An ambulance had to be called after Adam was hurt fielding fly balls during batting practice for Iowa.

Considering the severity of the injury, Adam’s season likely is over, and there’s no timetable for his return to baseball activities.

Adam has a 2-1 record with a 5.06 ERA in 22 games with the Cubs since signing before the 2020 season.

“Pretty intense,” Ross said. “Our thoughts and prayers go to him and hopefully a speedy recovery. I texted him, and he said it’s all gonna work out. He’s in good spirits, but we’re definitely thinking about him. That was some terrible news to receive yesterday.

“The story I heard was that he jumped for a ball and came down funny on his ankle during batting practice.”