Seiya Suzuki was actually one of the few hitters on the Cubs to get hot again during the past few weeks, so of course the right fielder tweaked his oblique Friday night against the Cincinnati Reds.
Suzuki was up to bat in the top of the fifth inning, when he suddenly felt something in his side after fouling off a pitch from Nick Lodolo. Suzuki took a few steps away from the batter’s box, put his hand to his left hip, which led Craig Counsell, the team’s trainer and translator to come out and check on Suzuki.
Suzuki finished the plate appearance by drawing a walk to load the bases. He went back out there for the bottom of the fifth inning to play right field, but he was then taken out in the sixth inning, when Mike Tauchman replaced him in the outfield. The Cubs ended up losing 3-2.
In the last two weeks Suzuki was slashing .302/.339./547, with 3 home runs, 2 doubles and a triple in 13 games. Yeah, it was only 56 plate appearances, but Suzuki was making real strides at the plate following some brutal games in the middle of May.
Now, it appears as though Suzuki has aggravated the same oblique injury that sidelined him earlier this season.
Well, that definitely stinks.
At this point I would be shocked if Suzuki isn’t placed on the 10-day injured list and if that’s the case, then the Cubs have to call somebody up.
Here is where things can get interesting and maybe some good results from Suzuki’s latest setback. Brennen Davis, who was once the top prospect in the Cubs farm system, was mostly forgotten about heading into the 2024 season. However, the 24-year-old has been one of the hottest prospects in baseball and on Friday night Davis crushed his 10th home run of the season at Triple-A with the Iowa Cubs.
Davis added a walk to go along with the solo home run Friday night and he’s now slashing .245/.406/.582 in 34 games with the Iowa Cubs. Coming into Friday’s game, Davis had a slash line of .305/.468/.763, with 8 home runs in 20 games.
Please, we’re begging. Call up the young guys and actually play them. Brennen Davis has done more than enough to deserve a shot and if Seiya Suzuki is down with an oblique injury, then don’t hesitate. Make the move and give your hot prospect a couple weeks to prove something in the majors.
We’ll see what happens to Suzuki on Saturday. The Cubs play at 3:10 p.m. central time in Cincinnati.
