Chicago Cubs: Injuries piling up at the wrong time in the season
Chicago Cubs: Injuries nickel-and-diming the club
Apparently Kyle Schwarber’s back has been bothering him a little bit for a little while. On Sept. 5, he reaggravated his back when he slide into third base. He told Maddon, but stayed in the game. Its a good thing he stayed in the game because he hit a monster home run after he hurt his back.
Schwarber didn’t start in the next game. However, he did pinch hit later in the game and drew a walk. On Saturday, he started in left field in the second game of a double header.
Those are positive signs; however, similar to soft tissue injuries, backs can be tricky. Anthony Rizzo went on the disabled list in the first days of this season with a bad back. Hearing that Schwarber has been dealing with a back issue for a while isn’t encouraging. Let’s hope that this doesn’t come up again this season. And let’s hope that back problems don’t begin to plague Schwarber’s career.
Yesterday, Ben Zobrist was scratched from the starting lineup with neck stiffness. These things happen from time to time during the course of a 162 game season. But when it happens to the oldest position player on the team it is something to keep an eye on.
Zobrist did start in the first game of today’s double header and seems to be fine. I would put his health in a similar situation as Schwarber’s. A stiff neck maybe less serious than a full back, but there is also the age factor. You may also remember that Zobrist missed playing in the first few games of spring training this year with a back issue.