MESA, Ariz. – Since Major League Baseball lifted the lockout last week, the Cubs have been gathering information on their players’ offseason work. Not all of it has been good news.
Cubs outfielder Ian Happ underwent elbow surgery in February, and pitcher Adbert Alzolay is expected to start the season on the injured list for a shoulder injury, president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer announced Monday.
Hoyer said Happ’s procedure was to clean up loose bodies in his throwing elbow.
“He’s very confident he’ll be ready by opening day,” Hoyer said. “But certainly, he may not be in the field quite as much as usual right at the beginning.”
Happ played catch on the agility field at the Cubs’ spring training complex Saturday, under the supervision of head athletic trainer PJ Mainville, and Hoyer said Happ has been hitting without pain.
Alzolay’s recovery is expected to stretch further into the season.
“He has had some shoulder tightness,” Hoyer said. “We’re still trying to figure out the extent of it. … I don’t think it’s going to be a minimum [IL] stint.”
The injury news isn’t necessarily over, as the Cubs continue with the intake process, gauging players’ fitness levels coming out of a 99-day lockout. During the lockout, team personnel were barred from communicating with players on the 40-man roster. Official workouts began Monday.
Hoyer characterized Happ and Alzolay’s ailments as the two unreported “known injuries.”
Reliever Codi Heuer also underwent Tommy John surgery last Monday and will miss the 2022 season. Heading into the lockout, it was clear that infielder David Bote (shoulder surgery) and catcher Miguel Amaya (elbow surgery) would be delayed by injury. Amaya has been around the Sloan Park complex since reporting Friday.
Regarding Bote’s injury timeline, Hoyer said: “You won’t see him, certainly, in April. And then beyond that, we’ll see.”
