Major League Baseball has a prolific history of strange injuries, especially when players first get back to spring training from the offseason. A violent sneeze, separating frozen hamburgers with a sharp knife, getting out of a hot tub, a player thinking he saw a spider or attempting to lovingly scare his kids. There have been many other things crossed off our weird-injury bingo cards.
A new entry was made this week: washing the dishes.
Jose Quintana, Cubs starting pitcher, come on down. You're the next contestant on Dumb Baseball Injuries!
Here's an official press release from the Cubs:
Last Saturday while washing dishes at his home in Miami, Quintana suffered a laceration on his left thumb that required five stitches.
This morning in Chicago, Quintana underwent microscopic surgery on his left thumb to further determine the extent of his injury. The procedure identified a lacerated digital sensory nerve in his left thumb, which was surgically repaired.
Quintana is expected to resume his throwing program in approximately two weeks, after which time a further determination will be made on expected length of absence.
Quintana was set to slot in as the Cubs' fourth starter. He was 13-9 with a 4.68 ERA, 3.80 FIP and 1.39 WHIP with 152 strikeouts in 171 innings last season.
With the season starting in three weeks and Quintana not even resuming a throwing program for two weeks, he's not going to be ready to go when the season starts. He'll be with the Cubs' taxi squad in South Bend for at least a few weeks, in all likelihood.
That means Tyler Chatwood moves up to the fourth-starter spot and the need for a new fifth starter presents itself. That would look to be Alec Mills.
In 36 innings over nine appearances -- including four starts -- last season, Mills pitched to a 2.75 ERA with 42 strikeouts and a 1.17 WHIP. It was a small sample, but he threw very well and this season will also be a small sample. Mills was stellar in the spring, too, sporting a 0.84 ERA and 0.66 WHIP in 10 2/3 innings.
Colin Rea is a depth piece and could wind up getting a few starts in 2020. It's possible youngster Adbert Alzolay figures in the mix at some point as well. If Cubs fans wanna dream a little, top prospect Brailyn Marquez is on the taxi squad, too.
