Chicago Cubs: Nick Madrigal joins team as he continues rehab

While the main focus of this weekend’s series against the San Francisco Giants is on former MVP and World Series champion Kris Bryant’s return to Wrigley Field, there are other important storylines to follow.

Before Friday afternoon’s game, recently-acquired infielder Nick Madrigal was on the field with his Chicago Cubs teammates as he continues through rehabbing a season-ending hamstring injury. Madrigal suffered torn tendons in his right hamstring running out a grounder on June 9 when he was a member of a White Sox.

“Nicky Two-Strikes” as he is commonly known will not make his Cubs debut until Spring, 2022 (if no other complications arise) but he has been with the team. Madrigal has posted several photos on his Instagram account of him at the club’s facilities in Arizona. The first picture posted was on August 23 with several Cubs farmhands, including Ben Holmes, Chase Watkins and Christian Donahue. He also recently posted a picture of him working out in the facilities.

Friday afternoon he was seen on the field pregame at Wrigley Field and later shown on the broadcast in the dugout during the game. MLB.com’s Jordan Bastain posted on Twitter a photo of him on the field with Nico Hoerner (who is also on the IL) and several others. Madrigal will be with the team throughout the weekend.

Daily Herald’s Mark Gonzales later Tweeted a photo of Madrigal in the batting cage with Cubs coach/interim manager Andy Green.

Chicago Cubs: Nick Madrigal on joining the team, being at Wrigley Field

Before the game on Saturday, Madrigal was out on the field working on rehab activities again. It was also the first time he addressed the media since coming over to the North Side. Bastain posted a video on Twitter of an interview he did in the dugout with media members, discussing his surprising trade from the White Sox to the Cubs.

This weekend marked the first time Madrigal had been working on rehab activities with the big league team. It is good to see that his rehab appears to be going as planned so far. It was well known that we would not see the slappy-hitting second baseman actually play until next spring, so tracking his rehab is all that can be done for the remainder of 2021.

One of the big things to watch in 2022 will be the potential middle infield of Hoerner and Madrigal. Both have dealt with significant injuries this year and are seeking their first-career full seasons as neither has played more than 54 games in an MLB season yet. Luckily both are still young and have shown great potential at making consistent contact in the Majors.