Cubs put pitcher Brad Wieck on 10-day injured list with irregular heartbeat

Brad Wieck was put on the 10-day injured list Friday with an irregular heartbeat. He had heart surgery in February 2020 to repair an atrial flutter, and he started experiencing the irregular heartbeat this week.

Wieck has worn a heart monitor for the last several days, and it reported the -irregularity while he was sleeping. The Cubs trusted he was healthy enough to pitch earlier this week but have shifted to a position of greater caution.

“With his history, anything you’re dealing with is extremely serious,” manager David Ross said.

Wieck pitched two scoreless innings in relief against the Phillies on Tuesday night. His heart was monitored, but Ross said it had not reached a level of concern to keep him off the mound.

“Everybody was on board with him; it was safe for him to compete,” Ross said. “We weren’t running any really high risk of injury.”

What has shifted since then, Ross said, is concern that Wieck might not be in the right place mentally to pitch. Because the job -requires feeding off of and channeling adrenaline, the team didn’t want Wieck worrying whether feeling his heart pounding was normal or a sign of trouble.

“We want to make sure he’s in the right space,” Ross said. “

That is going to involve keeping a monitor on Wieck and putting him through tests to help get him to a point where he can trust himself to push as hard as he needs to.

“We want to all be on the same page of making sure he’s safe and being able to go out there and compete,” Ross said. “It’s important for us to know that, for him to know that, [and] have peace of mind. And then he’s having a great year, so we want to make sure he’s not out there distracted mentally.”

Wieck has not allowed a run and has struck out 28 in 17 innings. Kyle Ryan was called up from Triple-A Iowa to take Wieck’s spot.

Bryant out of lineup again

Kris Bryant was out of the lineup, marking the second consecutive game after he left Wednesday’s game early. Ross said Bryant described his hamstring as “more achy than tight,” so there isn’t concern at this point that Bryant might need time on the IL. He isn’t expected to miss the All-Star Game next week.

With trade rumors looming, -Bryant’s absence from the lineup with a relatively -minor injury leads to questions about whether the Cubs are protecting their -assets. That was put to rest when Bryant pinch-hit in the seventh inning, doubling in three runs.

“I haven’t been told that we need to protect anybody or I need to look at things like that,” Ross said. “In my DNA, I’m always -going to be erring on the side of protecting these guys when we can.”

Tepera returns

The Cubs activated Ryan Tepera (calf) from the 10-day IL and optioned Cory Abbott to Iowa. Tepera owns an 0-2 record with a 3.35 ERA, one save and 14 holds in 37 relief appearances. He has a 0.82 WHIP and has limited opponents to a .148 average.