Cubs' Brandon Morrow: Status for Opening Day in question

Morrow (arm) underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow Nov. 6 and may not be available for Opening Day, Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic reports.

The procedure was deemed a cleanup, and Morrow is hoping to start throwing around the beginning of February. Given that timeframe, however, the right-hander is unlikely to be ready for the start of the season. Morrow appeared in just 35 games for the Cubs in 2018 thanks to back and arm injuries. When healthy, the 34-year-old converted 22 of his 24 saves while posting a 1.47 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and 31:9 K:BB across 30.2 innings. If Morrow is ultimately sidelined to open the 2019 campaign, Pedro Strop, Steve Cishek and Carl Edwards are among the options to temporarily fill in as the team's closer.