SAN DIEGO — The Cubs made another series of roster moves Tuesday as they placed two players on the 10-day injured list.
Outfielder Michael Hermosillo landed on the IL with a strained left quadriceps and second baseman Nick Madrigal with tightness in his lower back. The Hermosillo move, retroactive to Sunday, created room on the active roster to activate left-hander Wade Miley (inflammation, left elbow) from the 10-day IL. He took the mound Tuesday in his Cubs debut, allowing three runs and five walks in three innings before the Cubs fell 5-4 to the Padres. Frank Schwindel flied out to the wall in left with the bases loaded to end the game.
Manager David Ross said Hermosillo’s injury, which cropped up three to four days ago, “wasn’t bothering him too much” at first, so he tried to play through it.
“Then just the flight out here, some swelling set in and [he] got it looked at, and it was more serious than we thought,” Ross said.
The Cubs say it will be a few weeks before Hermosillo resumes baseball activities.
Closer to game time, the team put Madrigal on the IL. He had felt the tightness in his back during a 6-0 win against the Padres on Monday and didn’t bounce back well Tuesday, according to the team.
To replenish their middle-infield depth, the Cubs selected infielder Ildemaro Vargas from Triple-A Iowa. He was already on the trip as a member of the taxi squad. After playing 15 games with the Cubs over 2020 and 2021, he finished last season with Pirates and Diamondbacks but signed a minor-league deal with the Cubs over the winter, joining spring training as a non-roster invitee.
To make room on the 40-man roster for Vargas, the Cubs designated right-hander Adrian Sampson for assignment. Sampson was also in San Diego with the taxi squad.
Pitching plan?
Asked before Tuesday’s game who would take the mound for the Cubs in the series finale against the Padres on Wednesday, Ross said he didn’t yet know.
The rotation is short-handed, with Marcus Stroman on the IL (no designation) and fellow right-hander Alec Mills still a few bullpen sessions away from resuming his rehab start. Mills started the season on the 10-day IL with a strained lower back, then experienced a setback with tightness in his quadriceps in between rehab starts.
Wednesday will likely be another bullpen game, the Cubs’ third in a little over a week.
“Under the circumstances, they’ve done a nice job of adjusting,” Ross said of the bullpen. “They haven’t been our strongest games. And that’s to be expected. A lot of guys have different roles.”
A day off Thursday should help — Ross won’t have to save bullpen arms Wednesday.
Suzuki scratched
The Cubs scratched Seiya Suzuki (sore ankle) from the lineup Tuesday after he was originally penciled in as the designated hitter, then brought him in to pinch-hit in the ninth, when he singled to center. Yan Gomes replaced him as the DH.
In other roster news . . .
The Mets claimed lefty Locke St. John off waivers from the Cubs, who designated him for assignment last week.
