TORONTO — Cubs rookie right-hander Javier Assad applauded as he backed toward the dugout, acknowledging left fielder Ian Happ for his sliding catch in foul territory, a play that ended Assad’s gem of a start.
Assad stopped just before the first-base line, did his customary hop over it and was greeted in the dugout by a tunnel of high-fives.
He had just held the Blue Jays to one run in seven innings, the most he’d thrown in any major-league game. It was his second spot start in a week, and he just kept getting better.
Assad’s reemergence as a starting option gives the Cubs valuable flexibility as they push for a playoff spot in the last two months.
“Opportunities are going to come and go,” manager David Ross said before the Cubs’ 6-2 victory Friday against the Jays. “It’s a major-league season; it’s on both sides of the ball. . . . Guys are going to need breaks and rest, and guys are going to go through little struggles. A sign of a good team is somebody else picking them up. Javy has picked us up in a lot of different ways. And here’s another day we’re asking him to carry a bit more of the load.”
In the weeks leading up to Assad’s two turns in the rotation, his teammates were offering up praise for his contributions.
“Javy has been fantastic for a while now,” Happ said at the end of July.
He was in a multifaceted role, similar to the one Adbert Alzolay filled at the beginning of the season before he claimed the closer spot. Assad had to be prepared to pitch high-leverage innings but also provide length out of the bullpen.
“Not having a role is one of the hardest things in the bullpen,” reliever Julian Merryweather told the Sun-Times, “because it just basically means you have to be ready from the third inning through the ninth, depending on the game situation.”
Embracing that challenge, Assad had an ERA of 0.47 last month. He had four outings of three-plus innings in that span but also appeared in close games, earning the win in the Cubs’ 10-7 victory against the White Sox and getting a hold in the Cubs’ 5-1 win against the Cardinals.
When Marcus Stroman landed on the 15-day injured list at the beginning of the month, it was clear the Cubs would need someone to fill in for at least one spot start.
“[Assad has] earned that,” Ross said.
Merryweather said he and his bullpen mates saw it coming.
“He’s been, for some reason, a dark-horse kind of guy for a lot of guys in the bullpen,” Merryweather said. “We see how good he is, and we’re like, just let him get on a run, and it’s going to be really good. So we’re all happy to see him do it. We love him.”
Ross and pitching coach Tommy Hottovy highlighted Assad’s attacking approach.
“Especially with the sinker, the cutter and the four-seamer, a lot of the harder pitches,” Hottovy said. “That sets up everything else he does. It makes a slider play, makes the curveball play, the changeup, all those things. And he’s not afraid of anybody.”
He was unfazed in the World Baseball Classic this spring when he pitched for Mexico against a stacked U.S. lineup. And Assad’s last start, against Atlanta, stood out to Hottovy. He held the Braves, arguably the best offense in baseball, to two runs in 3⅔ innings.
“That was a tough lineup in Atlanta, a crazy environment with the rain, the weather,’’ Hottovy said. ‘‘He didn’t have his best stuff, his best feel, but he found a way to compete.’’
Assad limited the Jays to three baserunners through the first three innings. With two outs in the fourth, he gave up an RBI single on a soft line drive from Alejandro Kirk. No matter.
He needed only two more pitches to get out of the inning, pounding the inside of the strike zone with a cutter on the hands to induce lefty hitter Daulton Varsho to pop out. Assad didn’t allow another hit.
“It went great,” Assad said though team interpreter Fredy Quevedo. “I’m glad we were able to get the win.”
