{"id":555757,"date":"2026-03-23T17:49:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T17:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/555757\/"},"modified":"2026-03-23T17:49:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T17:49:08","slug":"cubs-to-place-seiya-suzuki-on-injured-list-option-javier-assad-to-triple-a","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/555757\/","title":{"rendered":"Cubs to place Seiya Suzuki on injured list, option Javier Assad to triple-A"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Chicago Cubs<\/a> will be without one of their top sluggers for an extended period to start the season. <\/p>\n

Seiya Suzuki<\/a> will start the season on the injured last, Cubs manager Craig Counsell announced on Monday. <\/p>\n

Counsell also announced that right-handed starter Javier Assad was optioned to triple-A.<\/p>\n

Assad, 28, recored a 3.65 ERA with 23 strikeouts and 12 walks over 37 innings last season after missing the majority of it due to an oblique strain.<\/p>\n

Suzuki sustained his injury, a ligament strain in his right knee, while playing for Japan in the World Baseball Classic. <\/p>\n

The 31-year-old outfielder and designated hitter got hurt in\u00a0Japan\u2019s 8-5 loss to Venezuela\u00a0in a World Baseball Classic quarterfinal March 14 in Miami. He walked gingerly to the dugout after a headfirst slide into second base when he was caught stealing\u00a0in the first inning. Suzuki was replaced in centre field after the end of that half-inning.<\/p>\n

Suzuki returned to the Cubs\u2019 spring training facility\u00a0on Monday, when he was seen walking slowly with a soft brace on the injured knee. Suzuki underwent imaging to determine the extent of the injury.<\/p>\n

He finished second on the North Siders with 32 home runs, had a team-high 103 RBI and slashed .245\/.326\/.478 in his fourth MLB season in 2025.<\/p>\n

The absence will undoubtedly be a blow to the power-potential of the Cubs lineup to open the season. Chicago also lost star outfielder Kyle Tucker to free agency in the off-season, but added Alex Bregman at third base. <\/p>\n

Suzuki is going into the final season of an\u00a0$85 million, five-year contract. He has hit .269 with 87 home runs and 296 RBI in 532 games for the Cubs.<\/p>\n

— With files from The Associated Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Chicago Cubs will be without one of their top sluggers for an extended period to start the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":555758,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[49,48,462,82],"class_list":["post-555757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=555757"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555757\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/555758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=555757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=555757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=555757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}