Cubs Injury Update On Star Reliever Less Than Ideal as Bullpen Comes Together

The Chicago Cubs are a team continuing to prove week after week that they are capable of huge things this season, though like anyone else there are still weaknesses.

Among those weaknesses is a thin starting rotation and even thinner bullpen. The group of relievers was seen as dicey entering the season, though at times it has looked downright horrible this season.

As the season has gone on however, unexpected faces have stepped up and saved the unit, dropping the overall bullpen ERA to a mark of 3.63 which ranks 12th in baseball along with a middle of the pack WHIP of 1.28.

With the bullpen starting to come together, it has the makings of a situation where if it can reach its ceiling, the sky could be the limit for the Cubs as a whole.

In order to do that however, Chicago will need who they have in house at full strength, and potentially their best reliever Porter Hodge has been dealing with an injury that has kept him out since the middle of May.

In an update given over the weekend, it sounds like they will have to wait a little bit longer to get him back.

Craig Counsell Says Cubs Not Counting on Porter Hodge Return Soon

Hodge was dealing with both an oblique issue and a hip problem at the same time, and according to Counsell, he has worked his way through the oblique.

The hip however is still causing problems and is likely going to require a rehab assignment, and Counsell does not seem to be anticipating his imminent return.

"Porter’s doing well," Counsell said via MLB.com. "The oblique is kind of resolved. It’s his left hip that’s bothering him right now. That’s, frankly, slowed him down. We’re good on the oblique. So we’re trying to get through that right now. We’re making progress."

When speaking on a more specific timeline, Counsell said he expects Hodge to be a few weeks away from joining the bullpen again, which would make his absence totaling at least a month.

Hodge has a 5.12 ERA over 19.1 innings this year, but the bulk of those runs came from two outings and one combined inning.

For most of the season, the young 24-year-old has looked like the same dominating guy who had a 1.88 ERA in 39 appearances as a rookie last season.

Hodge held the bullpen together during the early portion of the season as everyone else figured it out.

Now that things are starting to come together, slotting back the best version of himself could make this an actually solid unit.

He will need to be fully healthy in order to do that though, and it seems like it's going to be a little bit longer.