Cubs' Brandon Morrow: Resumes facing hitters

Morrow (elbow) completed a live batting-practice session Thursday at the Cubs' extended spring training facility in Arizona, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.

Morrow has been on the shelf all season following November elbow surgery and has hit multiple snags in recovery efforts. The fact that the right-hander is in the midst of a throwing program is encouraging, but it's unclear when the Cubs will be ready to turn him loose for a minor-league rehab assignment. Realistically, Morrow won't be activated from the injured list until mid-August at the soonest and will likely be deployed in middle relief with Craig Kimbrel now handling closing duties for Chicago.