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<\/p>\nCHICAGO \u2014 Less than 24 hours after the only starting pitcher he acquired at the trade deadline exited with an injury, Cubs team president Jed Hoyer stood by the acquisition of Michael Soroka.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe make bets on human beings,\u201d Hoyer told reporters Tuesday afternoon at Wrigley Field. \u201cSometimes they work out. I haven\u2019t gotten the full report yet, but obviously disappointed. We did a lot of due diligence, a ton of research. If it doesn\u2019t work, that\u2019s on me. That\u2019s the job.\u201d<\/p>\n
After tossing two innings of one-run ball on Monday, Soroka didn\u2019t come out for the third. The right-hander complained of shoulder pain that he felt after rearing back for \u201ca little extra\u201d on a pitch in the previous inning. On Tuesday, the Cubs placed Soroka on the injured list and called up reliever Nate Pearson.<\/p>\n
\u201cLow- to mid-grade shoulder strain,\u201d manager Craig Counsell said. \u201cBasically, (we) anticipate shutting him down for seven to 10 days and then kind of reevaluating where we\u2019re at. So all in all, not terrible news. I think we\u2019ll have a pretty good idea of what\u2019s going on in a week and kind of go from there.\u201d<\/p>\n
The news on Soroka wasn\u2019t terrible, but things got worse for the team on the field as they dropped their second straight game to the Cincinnati Reds. <\/p>\n
In a 5-1 loss, Shota Imanaga was brilliant for 6 1\/3 innings, but Andrew Kittredge couldn\u2019t keep the game knotted as he retired just one batter in the seventh while giving up four runs, his first bad appearance as a Cub since being acquired at the deadline.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Nico Hoerner\u2019s acrobatic effort went for naught on this play as part of a frustrating day for the Cubs. (Justin Casterline \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
The main culprit remains the offense. The group continues to confound of late. A day after Counsell lamented that three hits wouldn\u2019t win many games, the Cubs showed that four hits wouldn\u2019t do any better. <\/p>\n
The first inning summed things up nicely. After Michael Busch and Ian Happ reached to put two men on with no outs, Kyle Tucker, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Willi Castro struck out in succession against starter Zack Littell, who entered the game with a meager 16.6 percent strikeout rate.<\/p>\n
For an offense that\u2019s carried the team for much of the season, the Cubs\u2019 hitters are suddenly searching for answers as the best players have all struggled to produce. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe name of the game is to square the ball up, get on base and create rallies,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cYou gotta do it in all sorts of situations and all times of the year. We\u2019re just in a little run right now and we\u2019re not doing it. This is a very good offensive baseball team. It will happen. You never enjoy going through stretches like this. When you\u2019re slumping, you kind of feel like you\u2019re pressing because you\u2019re not getting any good results. We\u2019ve just got some guys not in great places swinging the bat right now. We\u2019ll get \u2019em there.\u201d<\/p>\n
The scuffling offense only puts more of a spotlight on Hoyer, who frustrated many by not getting a big-name starter at the deadline. His assertion that an impact starter wasn\u2019t moved is fair, and he was right in the assessment that prices to acquire pitchers were sky high. But the optics of the Soroka news only heighten the angst.<\/p>\n
Soroka\u2019s injury can\u2019t come as much of a surprise. The veteran righty has battled injuries throughout his career, including multiple shoulder issues even as recently as last summer. There was also a concerning trend with his velocity. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe knew the velocity was sort of trending down,\u201d Hoyer said. \u201cWe obviously talked through that extensively. Felt like given the market, given the asking price and given all those things, we felt like it was a good bet to make. Ultimately, he came out of the game last night and right now it\u2019s not looking like a good bet.\u201d<\/p>\n
The bet was likely on the fact that Soroka came to the Cubs with a 25.4 percent strikeout rate and a 7 percent walk rate. That strikeout rate would easily lead Chicago\u2019s rotation. He was also moving from the Washington Nationals, who had one of the worst defenses in baseball, to a team with top defenders at every position. He may not have been an innings-eater, but the front office saw upside with him.<\/p>\n
Knowing his velocity had dipped, the Cubs were paying close attention to Soroka\u2019s health records. They knew he underwent an MRI before his final start. They scrutinized his medicals and debated the best course of action on a pitcher they liked.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe spent a lot of time on that,\u201d Hoyer said. \u201cEarlier, he was sitting at a much higher velocity. It was kind of coming down and we trying to get to the bottom of exactly what that was. He\u2019d had the MRI before that. That risk profile was known and we decided that given the asking price and that we felt like he was notch above some of the other guys we were talking about in terms of talent and development opportunities, we thought it was the right risk.\u201d<\/p>\n
Taking risks can pay off, obviously. That\u2019s how the Cubs ended up with Matthew Boyd. Of course, when they added him, he was trending in the right direction over the final months of 2024, making it a smart bet. Soroka\u2019s trends were concerning. And for now, that risk isn\u2019t looking like it will pay off.<\/p>\n
Counsell said Ben Brown, who relieved Soroka on Monday and allowed just one run in four innings, was an option to make starts. Javier Assad could also return after his next rehab outing on Wednesday. Jameson Taillon will make his second rehab start on Friday with Triple-A Iowa. The Cubs also have an off day on Thursday and Monday, allowing them some flexibility with how they attack the fifth-starter spot.<\/p>\n
None of it will matter if the team doesn\u2019t start to score on a consistent basis again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Cubs still have a 65-48 record, tied with the Philadelphia Phillies for third-best in the National League. The problem remains that they\u2019re in a division with a Milwaukee Brewers team that has repeatedly defied the odds as they continue a months-long torrid stretch. They\u2019ve now extended their lead to four games in the division as they put pressure on a Cubs team that appears to be wilting.<\/p>\n
The assumption is that the bats will eventually wake up. What\u2019s unknown is when it will happen and whether it will be too late.<\/p>\n
(Top photo of Michael Soroka: David Banks \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHICAGO \u2014 Less than 24 hours after the only starting pitcher he acquired at the trade deadline exited…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":74335,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[479,363,99],"class_list":["post-74334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-chicago-cubs","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74334","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=74334"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74334\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}