Cubs place Drew Smyly on 15-day IL with oblique strain

The Chicago Cubs have placed starter Drew Smyly on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to May 31, due to a right oblique strain. 

Chicago reinstated righty Michael Rucker and outfielder Jason Heyward from the IL, optioning outfielder Nelson Velazquez to Triple-A Iowa in a corresponding move.

Smyly was pulled from his start against the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday after three innings because of oblique soreness. He’ll now head to the IL with a strain, the severity of which is yet unclear. The Cubs haven’t yet specified a timetable.

Signed to a one-year, $5.25M contract shortly after the lockout was lifted, Smyly has made nine starts with the Cubs. He has a solid 3.80 ERA across 42 2/3 innings, although he’s striking out a personal-worst 18.9% of opposing hitters. Smyly has compensated for the fewer strikeouts with a career-low 5.6% walk rate, and he’s still generating swinging strikes on a quality 12.2% of his offerings.

If healthy, Smyly could be a fairly straightforward trade candidate before the Aug. 2 deadline. That’s contingent, of course, on his returning to health over the coming weeks and reestablishing himself on the mound.

Rucker has been out of action since May 17 with turf toe on his left foot. Heyward, meanwhile, has been down for the same amount of time while battling COVID-19 symptoms. He returns to both the active and 40-man rosters, and the Cubs needed to clear a 40-man spot for his reinstatement. They’ll do so by recalling righty Manuel Rodríguez from the minors and placing him on the big league 60-day IL.

Rodríguez, 25, made his first 20 MLB relief appearances last season. He struggled to a 6.11 ERA but averaged north of 97 mph on his fastball. Unfortunately, he made just two April appearances with Triple-A Iowa before landing on the minor league injured list.

At the very least, Rodríguez won’t be eligible to return to the majors until August. It remains to be seen whether he’ll be healthy enough to make a late-season return. While he recovers on the big league IL, Rodríguez will pick up major league service time and be paid at prorated portion of the $700K MLB minimum salary.