MESA, Ariz. — The Cubs placed pitcher Adbert Alzolay on the 60-day injured list Friday with a right shoulder strain that could sideline him for half the season or more.
The move was made to make room on the 40-man roster for newly-signed outfielder Seiya Suzuki.
But it was expected since Alzolay got to camp and described what he expected the length of his rehab to be. Alzolay suffered the injury throwing on his own program in late February.
"The goal was to throw a lot more innings this year, and now we've just got to wait for it," said Alzolay, who added that he expects to try to keep the time missed to two months — an optimistic prognosis at best — on Tuesday.
"I feel it's just more about the work that you can put into the rehab process," he said. "If you work really hard about it, you can get [through it] really quick."
But Alzolay missed almost four months with a similar injury in the minors in 2018, and Cubs officials, including team president Jed Hoyer and pitching coach Tommy Hottovy, have already preached patience with their pitching staff, not only with injuries but ramp-up work.
"Anytime you lose someone it's terrible, but a guy like Adbert, it's big, for sure," Kyle Hendricks said. "He's a big part of what we do."
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Alzolay was expected to be a leading candidate for a starting rotation spot. Without him in the mix, last year's rookie pitchers Justin Steele and Keegan Thompson take on bigger profiles in the early rotation picture behind a top three of Hendricks, Marcus Stroman and Wade Miley.
Hoyer said from early on his goal was to add a bunch of pitching and he already has done that through the first week of camp.
For now, Alzolay is focusing on healing and trying to contribute over the final months.
"Whenever I'm ready, I feel I can help the team, either coming out of the bullpen multiple innings or being a starter," he said.