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Not gonna lie, seeing the news was instantly greeted with disappointment, but I get it. Tyler Chatwood has been good this year and has definitely earned the opportunity to make a spot start or two when a pitcher is down. That’s the current circumstance for the Cubs, as Kyle Hendricks will miss two starts while he’s on the injured list with shoulder inflammation. On Tuesday, Joe Maddon named Chatwood as Thursday’s starter against the Mets, filling in for Hendricks.
This comes after Theo Epstein seriously teased a call up of right-handed pitching prospect Adbert Alzolay after Hendricks was placed on the injured list. But, instead it will be Chatwood.
Chatwood had a spot start in April against the Diamondbacks at Wrigley Field and was outstanding, pitching six scoreless innings and giving up only two hits. He’s also had two other long relief outings, throwing four innings against the Brewers and Phillies, allowing just one earned run in eight innings combined.
Overall this season, Chatwood has a 3.60 ERA and 1.46 WHIP, striking out 29 and walking 21 in 35 innings.
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Although Alzolay won’t be making his MLB debut this week there’s still a chance that he gets called up in the next couple weeks. Maddon also discussed the possibility of using a six-man rotation soon. That could open the door for Alzolay’s first MLB start.
The Cubs play 17 games in a row without a day off starting Tuesday night against the White Sox.
