Cubs Injury News: Shota Imanaga, Porter Hodge, Miguel Amaya, Javier Assad

Following Memorial Day weekend, the Chicago Cubs continue to be one of the best teams in baseball. With that being said, the injury bug has been less than kind to them, and that's putting it mildly. Manager Craig Counsell gave some updates on the injury front ahead of Monday's win over the Colorado Rockies.

Starting with the good, Shota Imanaga has a bullpen session scheduled

Cubs southpaw Shota Imanaga has been sidelined since May 5 with a left hamstring strain, and was initially placed on the 15-day IL. His recovery was progressing, albeit slowly, as Counsell said on May 19 that while he had begun throwing off a mound, the Cubs wouldn’t expect him back until “well into June”. However, in his latest update, we received slightly improved news from Counsell, who said that Imanaga has a bullpen session scheduled for Wednesday. Assuming it goes well, Imanaga could progress toward the next steps to rejoining the Cubs’ rotation.

Javier Assad continues to make progress - but has no timetable

The road to recovery has been long for Javier Assad. Once projected to be a depth piece of the rotation, his left oblique has kept him off the field throughout the 2025 season so far. Assad was upgraded to the 60-day IL after a Grade 2 oblique strain during his Triple-A rehab start on April 22, but Counsell reported that he has started playing catch, a nice first step step on the path to recovery.

Miguel Amaya to undergo imaging on Tuesday; more info to come

The oblique has not been a friend of the Cubs, sidelining catcher Miguel Amaya as well. Amaya left the game on May 24 in Cincinnati after feeling some discomfort trying to throw out a baserunner, and was subsequently placed on the 10-day IL the following day.

The Chicago backstop will undergo imaging on Tuesday, with the Cubs expecting to have a better idea of his progress after that. Luckily for the Cubs, production has not been an issue in his absence, as recently-promoted catcher Reese McGuire is already making a name for himself in a backup role.

Now for the bad news: Porter Hodge isn’t making any progress

This one may sting the most for the Cubs. Yet another victim of the oblique strain, Porter Hodge went down on May 18 and was placed on the 15-day IL two days later. According to Counsell, Hodge appeared to be making progress in his recovery, but recently seemed to suffer a setback, with the reasoning seemingly unknown.

“(We’re) trying to figure out why,” Counsell said. “In the next couple of days, we need to make progress, otherwise, the minimum stint is not going to be reasonable.”

As the pitching staff continues to be strained to make up for the absences of Imanaga and Justin Steele, bullpen depth continues to be important, making it absolutely vital that the Cubs figure out what is causing Hodge to struggle.