Chicago Cubs: Inflammation seems to be the theme for this season

Injuries have shuffled the playing cards this season as the Chicago Cubs attempt to control their own destiny nearing the final month of regular season play.

We are witnessing a relay race for the National League Central division title, folks, and our Chicago Cubs find themselves neck-and-neck yet again. Some of us expected the division hunt to be this tight while a few of you appear to be losing both your faith and your minds.

Thankfully, we’ve got an entire month left before the playoff picture is set. Hopefully, we’ll have some brand new postseason gear to keep us warm during the Fall and Winter seasons. A second World Series championship tee-shirt in four years would be excellent.

Now before we get ahead of ourselves, I know I can’t be the only person holding their breath whenever the Cubs are trending on Twitter. As of late, we have read and or heard the news of several key players finding themselves on the Injured List.

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Last year, unexpected and freak-like injuries sidelined two strong bullpen arms in Brandon Morrow and Pedro Strop. Morrow, at one point, hurt his back by removing his pants — then Strop managed to tweak his left hamstring on September 13 in Washington.

At the time, it was possibly the biggest blow the Cubs have taken to the chin since Morrow’s first trip to the IL. When Brandon went down, Pedro was given the responsibility of closing games.

Something is in the water

As of now, Chicago has 10 players on their injury report with four 60-day stints. Out of the group, seven pitchers, including Craig Kimbrel, Steve Cishek, Brandon Kintzler, Xavier Cedeno, and Morrow are included.

Not to say, Kendall Graveman or Allen Webster is far less important than the men listed above. It’s all based on performance provided before their trips to the IL became a reality. With that said, Kimbrel, Cedeno, Kintzler, Webster, and Cishek were listed with some sort of inflammation-related update.

Both Kintzler and Kimbrel went out with inflammation injuries around the same time and are expected to rejoin the club sometime soon. Kimbrel threw a bullpen session before the series opener against Philadelphia while Kintzler played catch the same day.

Entering the weekend, Chicago’s current inflammation issue of six is the most among the league with 13 scattered across the board.

Although he’s not a bullpen contributor, Jason Heyward is dealing with inflammation of his own. Heyward is currently having one of the best offensive seasons of his career dating back to 2012 as a member of the Atlanta Braves.

Before being listed as day-to-day, Jason hammered 17 home runs with 48 RBI behind a .271/.351/.456/.807 clip. Just one of six bitten by this specific injury bug that has been the theme for 2019.