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Jesse RogersMar 8, 2026, 05:50 PM<\/p>\n
Close<\/a>Jesse joined ESPN Chicago in September 2009 and covers MLB for ESPN.com.<\/p>\n Multiple Authors<\/p>\n MESA, Ariz. — The Chicago Cubs<\/a> will start the season with relief pitchers Porter Hodge<\/a> and Jordan Wicks<\/a> on the injured list, manager Craig Counsell said Sunday.<\/p>\n Counsell said that Hodge, a right-hander, will be shut down from throwing for a few weeks due to a flexor strain, and that lefty Wicks, who has been out since late February, will not be ready for Opening Day due to nerve irritation.<\/p>\n Hodge’s injury came up after his last spring outing a week ago, and imaging on his elbow showed the strain.<\/p>\n “It’s a setback,” Counsell said. “It’s going to put him behind.”<\/p>\n Hodge, 24, was competing for a spot in the bullpen after having a down season in 2025, appearing in 26 games while compiling a 6.27 ERA. He dealt with several injuries during the year and now will have to start his spring all over again when he gets healthy.<\/p>\n “That part’s unfortunate,” Counsell said.<\/p>\n Wicks, 26, has been up-and-down from the minor leagues the past couple of seasons and was considered a depth arm for the Cubs. He’ll get back on the mound later this month with the hope of returning not long after the season begins.<\/p>\n “We weren’t expecting those two guys to get hurt,” Counsell said. “On both ends, we’re fortunate they’re not long-term injuries, so that’s a good thing.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jesse RogersMar 8, 2026, 05:50 PM CloseJesse joined ESPN Chicago in September 2009 and covers MLB for ESPN.com.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":511626,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[363,99],"class_list":["post-511625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=511625"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511625\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/511626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=511625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=511625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=511625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}