Cubs' Seiya Suzuki: Opening Day in jeopardy

Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said Thursday that Suzuki (oblique) is in "strong jeopardy" of missing the start of the regular season, Tony Andracki of Marquee Sports Network reports.

Suzuki suffered a moderate left oblique strain last week, and it's an injury that often requires around a full month of rest and rehab work. "We're not gonna put any firm timetables on it but I think there's a general expectation of what a moderate oblique injury is," said Hoyer. "That certainly would put Opening Day in strong jeopardy. We just want to make sure we get him completely healthy." Christopher Morel is the most obvious fill-in candidate for right field, though the Cubs have a number of options to fill the position. Suzuki will hopefully be ready to take over by mid-April.