Chicago Cubs: Team holds their breath on Kris Bryant, Mike Montgomery

While on the surface, the injuries to the Chicago Cubs’ Kris Bryant and Mike Montgomery don’t seem that bad. But the Cubs can’t afford to be without either of them for an extended period.

Within a span of two games, the Chicago Cubs were forced to deal with something that frankly, they don’t have time for. Injuries. Kris Bryant and Jason Heyward made contact in the outfield in the final game of the Reds series. And Mike Montgomery came to the mound in the opener of the Astros series–only never to throw a pitch.

For Bryant, he and Heyward came together on a deep fly ball in the final game versus the Reds. The ball was in the gap, and you can see both players calling for it. While Bryant may have had the better chance to catch it, Heyward as centerfielder should call him off if he can get it. The collision wasn’t massive as Bryant realized it was coming and put his hands up to protect himself.

As of now, he’s still under evaluation. He was cleared to travel with the team to Houston after leaving the game early, so that’s promising. But the way Bryant has been playing as of late, every game he’s out? He’s missed.

For Montgomery, he was pretty much aware of his injury. As he came into the mound in the fifth, his middle finger was already giving him issues in the bullpen. At that point, there was no time for Joe Maddon to get someone else ready. So the smartest thing was to come to the mound, then make them aware of the injury.

“At that point, you don’t know what it could be,” Montgomery said. “It could be the ligament in there. At the end of the day, I couldn’t feel the ball, so I knew at that point I wasn’t going to be able to pitch. It looks like a popped blood vessel or something.” h/t Richard Justice, MLB.com

The Cubs are already scrambling in the last few weeks with the roster. The Cubs carried an extra pitcher after the rotation had a rough stretch getting deep into games. After sending Tim Collins down and calling up Jim Adduci, it’ll be interesting to see what’s next with the roster shuffle.

While neither injury seems serious, Maddon and the Cubs might have to decide on one or both of these guys. The Cubs aren’t in a position to play short, and if there’s any inkling that one–or both–will be out, the Cubs will have to make a move bring somebody up.

It’s a good thing Iowa isn’t all that far from Chicago. Having your Triple-A affiliate in the ‘middle’ of the country saves money when you need cart players back and forth as often as the Chicago Cubs have early this season.