The Cubs placed Wesneski on the 15-day injured list Saturday with a right forearm strain, Andy Martinez of Marquee Sports Network reports.
Wesneski pitched 1.1 shutout innings out of the bullpen during Friday's loss to Arizona, though he appears to have come away from his latest appearance with an injury. He'll be held out of action until at least Aug. 4, and the Cubs will recall Hunter Bigge from Triple-A Iowa to fill the opening in their bullpen.
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Cubs' Hayden Wesneski: Shifts back to bullpen
Rotowire
Wesneski worked in relief of starter Justin Steele in Friday's 5-2 loss to the Diamondbacks, striking out one over 1.1 scoreless innings while giving up one hit and no walks.
Wesneski had started in each of his final four appearances before the All-Star break, but he looks to have lost his rotation spot to Javier Assad (forearm), who returned from the injured list July 13. The right-handed Wesneski might have had a case for a more permanent stay in the rotation if he had performed well in his recent run as a starter, but he turned in a 5.59 ERA over those four outings.
Wesneski (3-6) took the loss in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader against the Cardinals, surrendering 11 runs (four earned) on 10 hits and a walk over four innings. He struck out four.
The right-hander's own errors during a nightmarish nine-run first inning prevented more damage to his ERA, but it was still a poor outing for Wesneski at the worst possible time, as it put extra pressure on the Cubs' bullpen ahead of the nightcap. In four starts since rejoining the rotation in late June, he's posted a 5.59 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 20:6 K:BB in 19.1 innings while serving up five homers, including a three-run blast by Alec Burleson on Saturday.
