On Sept 15th, Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune reported that Marcus Stroman would return from the Injured List after sustaining a "rib cage cartilage fracture" which is a quite rare injury. According to a doctor, the injury usually takes at least six weeks to heal. He was only diagnosed with the injury on Aug. 16, meaning he returned in around 30 days.
The risk? Stroman could still be hurt, and then continue to pitch through injury for a chance that the Cubs could make the postseason. That could lead to long-term health problems.
Since returning and playing in the bullpen, Stroman has played in two games. His first game was on Sept. 15, pitching two innings with three strikeouts, a walk, and a hit allowed while throwing 16 strikes on 31 pitches. In his second game, he pitched one inning, had a strikeout, and gave up a hit as well as an unearned run for himself, with 13 pitches, eight of which were strikes.
The Cubs' current plans are to use Justin Steele, Kyle Hendricks, Jordan Wicks, Jameson Taillon, and Javier Assad as the five starters in the rotation but they have hopes that Stroman can pitch successfully out of the bullpen as his rehab then possibly join the starting rotation in the postseason.
To reinstate Stroman from IL, the Cubs cut relief pitcher Daniel Palencia. In 21 games, Palencia pitched 22 innings, holding a record of 5-2 with a 4.09 ERA. While he did struggle with walks, giving up 13, he thrived by only giving up 14 hits. He allowed 10 earned runs, all of which came in just 5 of his 21 games, meaning he had 16 games with no runs allowed.
Marcus Stroman is putting his body on the line for the Cubs
There was another player who was limited to pitch amount of innings that all suffered many injuries. In the hopes of winning a World Series, this player risked his body, knowing he wasn't fully healthy. He led his team to the World Series in 2019 and took home World Series MVP. His name was Stephen Strasburg. He sacrificed his career to help the Washington Nationals win a World Series.
Strasburg recently announced his retirement midway through his 7-year, $245 million contract, but his retirement is in limbo due to a contract dispute because they didn't have insurance on his contract and don't want to pay him out.
Stroman has dealt with many injuries in the past, and to risk his body for short-term success isn't worth it. In the event he gets hurt even worse than he could currently be, the Cubs would not pay him just because he risked his body for a postseason dream.
Jacob deGrom only pitched 62 innings in 2023 and missed half of two seasons in 2021 and 2022 and still got a massive five-year, $185 million contract. If Stroman stopped this season after pitching 131 innings while being way healthier than deGrom, some team would pay him.
