Chicago Cubs News: Codi Heuer begins rehab assignment with Iowa

Saturday saw Cubs pitcher Codi Heuer take the mound with the Iowa Cubs to begin his rehabilitation assignment. Heuer, 26, has not pitched in an MLB game since September 29, 2021. He had to miss the entire 2022 season and a chunk of this season after having Tommy John surgery back in March of that year. Heuer began throwing activities late last season, but now he is finally pitching in game action again.

Heuer took the mound Saturday in game one of a DH against the Columbus Clippers in relief. The main goal was to see action again and make sure the arm feels good. Heuer pitched 2/3 of an inning and gave up two runs on two hits (he put the runners on and the next pitcher gave up the RBIs so the runs were charged to Heuer) and struck out one.

The biggest takeaway was Heuer hitting 99 MPH on the fastball. Per Iowa Cubs broadcaster Alex Cohen, he hit at least 98.9 MPH or higher on five fastballs.

Heuer has always had a pretty big arm. He was hitting mid-upper 90s on his heater in his days with the White Sox before coming over to the Cubs. When the strikeout rate and stuff started to dip towards the end of 2021 after he joined the Cubs, it was an early indication of something being wrong. Seeing him throw as hard as he is at this point is a very promising sign.

The Cubs would love to have Heuer as part of their bullpen equation as soon as they can. If he can bring what he did on the South Side early in his career, it would be a welcome addition to this pen. Especially if he can miss bats as he did in 2020 (9.5 K/9). There was even talk of him being a future closer candidate for the Cubs when he came over. Time will tell how everything goes with him, but this is a big first step.

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