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The Cubs close to the injured Brandon Morrow were outstanding when he was able to start this season, but it will end with just 35 appearances. Morrow has been dealing with inflammation of the biceps for much of the season, but hoped to return at some point this week. Instead, Cuban baseball operations president Theo Epstein announced Tuesday that Morrow had been closed for the season.
Morrow, 34, has saved 22 games on 24 occasions with an ERA of 1.47, a WHIP score of 1.08 and 31 strikeouts in 30 2/3 innings this season. He only allowed races in three of his 35 appearances.
The last time he was able to launch, it was July 15, the last game before the break of the stars. His entire arm has suffered so much in his career, it seems unlikely that he will be able to withstand a full season at this stage. He is signed with the Cubs until next season and will earn $ 9 million.
The Cubs had a good start throughout the season (their ERA of 3.30 is the fourth in baseball and they rank sixth in percentage of economy), but the depth is currently being tested.
Pedro Strop had really established himself as Morrow's replacement, but he suffered a hamstring injury last Thursday and will not be back in the regular season. He will have to heal quickly to have an impact on the playoffs of the Cubs, at least in the NLDS (or Wild Card Game, if they detonate their advantage).
There are still good pieces. Steve Cishek has a good year, just like Justin Wilson. Wilson has been outstanding lately, posting an average of 0.82, 1.09 and 12 strikeouts since August 2nd. Jesse Chavez (1.44 ERA with the Cubs) and Jorge De La Rosa (1.59) have been excellent so far. Carl Edwards Jr. has had a recent funk, but we know his potential.
These would seem to be the best end-of-game, high-leverage options for Joe Maddon. He gave us a glimpse of how he could deploy them Saturday in a 1-0 win against the Reds. Wilson finished eighth, then Chavez, left-handers Randy Rosario and Cishek each got one in the ninth. The day before, De La Rosa recorded the first stop of his career by eliminating the Reds in the ninth.
Former starter Jaime Garcia has also worked three goal-scoring innings in recent days.
Losing Morrow is a blow, but the Cubs did not have it in the second half. The key for October is to bring Strop back to the top of his game. In the meantime, Maddon will rely on a mix of Wilson, Cishek, Chavez, De La Rosa and Edwards in the biggest squares, along with Rosario and Garcia who may well be up to it.
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