Alzolay (forearm) will throw a touch-and-feel bullpen session Friday, Bruce Levine of 670TheScore.com reports.
While not a regular bullpen session, Alzolay getting on a mound in any fashion still looks to be a notable step forward. The Cubs' closer is working his way back from a right forearm strain and is still hopeful he can make it back before the end of the regular season. Alzolay is eligible for activation Sept. 26, although he could need a little more time than that even if all goes well.
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Cubs' Jared Young: Gets start at DH
Rotowire
Young is starting at designated hitter and batting seventh in Friday's game versus the Rockies.
It will be Young's first start since he was recalled Tuesday, although he did have an RBI triple off the bench that day. Regular DH Christopher Morel will begin this one on the bench.
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Cubs' Christopher Morel: Absent from lineup
Rotowire
Morel is not in the lineup for Friday's game versus the Rockies.
Morel had started each of the last 10 games and homered four times during that span, but he'll take a seat for this one as the Cubs open up a weekend series against Colorado. Jared Young is in the designated hitter spot.
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Cubs' Yan Gomes: Sitting out day game
Rotowire
Gomes is not in the lineup for Friday's game against the Rockies.
Gomes will get a breather for Friday's day game after catching each of the previous three contests. Miguel Amaya will be behind the plate for Jameson Taillon.
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Cubs' Zyhir Hope: Shows power, speed in complex ball
Rotowire
Hope slashed .286/.419/.543 with three home runs, three steals and 13 strikeouts in 11 games in the Arizona Complex League.
Hope received $400,000 after the Cubs snagged him in the 11th round of this year's draft. A lefty-hitting outfielder who is pretty raw at the plate, Hope boasts plus raw power and elite speed, so there's a lot of upside here if he can improve his swing decisions and mechanics (59.1 percent groundball rate).
Swanson went 2-for-5 with a home run and three total RBI in Thursday's loss to the Pirates.
Swanson singled home a run in the seventh inning, then plated two more on a home run in the ninth, his 22nd of the season. The shortstop had 25 long balls last year and a career-best 27 a year before that, so he'll need a strong final nine games of 2023 to reach either of those figures. Swanson has still been a solid contributor for the Cubs as they fight for a playoff spot.
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Cubs' Kyle Hendricks: Takes loss Thursday
Rotowire
Hendricks (6-8) allowed three runs (one earned) on seven hits across six innings to take the loss Thursday against the Pirates. He walked two and struck out five.
Hendricks pitched well enough, but the Cubs didn't score until the seventh inning and the veteran righty ended up with the loss. This was his first time covering at least six innings this month, and he lowered his season ERA to a solid 3.66. Hendricks has been his typical pitch-to-contact self this year with only 91 strikeouts across 132.2 innings, though he's still managed to be effective. He's in line to start again Wednesday against Atlanta on the road, which figures to be a challenging matchup.
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Cubs' Luis Vazquez: Offensive breakout at age 23
Rotowire
Vazquez is slashing .261/.390/.436 with nine home runs, six steals and a 20.1 percent strikeout rate in 63 games for Triple-A Iowa.
A 6-foot shortstop who turns 24 in October, Vazquez slashed .284/.340/.483 with 11 home runs in 58 games with Double-A Tennessee earlier this season and has finished strong at Triple-A. He has always been a gifted defensive infielder, but this was an offensive breakout season for Vazquez. He had only 16 home runs in 341 career games entering the year and already has 20 in 121 games this season. The Cubs will likely add Vazquez to the 40-man roster this offseason to protect him from the Rule 5 draft, which would set up a 2024 big-league debut.
Steele (16-5) allowed six runs on eight hits and struck out six without walking a batter over three-plus innings, taking the loss Wednesday versus the Pirates.
Steele was cruising through three innings, but he allowed six straight singles to open the fourth. That produced four runs, and two more were tacked onto Steele's line when Jose Cuas allowed a three-run home run to Josh Palacios. It appears Steele may be wearing down late in the year, as he's allowed 12 runs over his last nine innings while taking back-to-back losses for the first time. He's throw 168 innings this year, 49 more than his previous high in a season, which was set last year. Despite this poor outing, he still has a 3.00 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and 170:35 K:BB over 29 starts. The southpaw is projected for a challenging road start in Atlanta next week.
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Cubs' Miles Mastrobuoni: Big effort in loss
Rotowire
Mastrobuoni went 3-for-4 with two doubles and two runs scored in Wednesday's 13-7 loss to the Pirates.
Mastrobuoni entered the contest with just three hits at the MLB level since July 21, so Wednesday's performance was certainly unexpected, particularly out of the No. 9 spot in the order. The 27-year-old is still just a bench option for the Cubs, though he's seen a slightly larger role recently with Jeimer Candelario (back) and Nick Madrigal (hamstring) both currently out.
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Cubs' Cody Bellinger: Doubles twice, scores in loss
Rotowire
Bellinger went 2-for-5 with two doubles and a run scored in Wednesday's 13-7 loss to the Pirates.
This was Bellinger's first multi-hit effort in 11 days as he entered Wednesday's contest just 6-for-32 over his last eight games. Even with the small slump, the 28-year-old is still batting a robust .310 this season with an .895 OPS, and he's been a big reason why the Cubs are in position to secure a playoff spot.
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Cubs' Christopher Morel: Goes deep Wednesday
Rotowire
Morel went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Wednesday's 13-7 loss to the Pirates.
Morel is now up to 24 home runs after hitting 16 long balls as a rookie last season. While it's a solid total, the 24-year-old did hit nine of them in his first 12 games of the year. Since then, Morel has 15 home runs in 89 games. For fantasy purposes, the youngster has been a good player to use during a hot streak, though he's still looking for more consistency at the plate, and he'll need to cut down on the strikeouts moving forward.
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Cubs' Ian Happ: Hits grand slam in loss
Rotowire
Happ went 2-for-5 with a double and a grand slam in Wednesday's 13-7 loss to the Pirates.
Happ got the Cubs back in the game with his fifth-inning grand slam, but the team's pitchers couldn't hold Pittsburgh down. The veteran outfielder now has 19 home runs this year, which is six away from trying the career high he set back in 2021. Happ has already established a new career high with his 77 RBI so far this season.
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Cubs' Alexander Canario: Belts slam for first MLB homer
Rotowire
Canario went 2-for-4 with a double, a home run and five RBI in Tuesday's 14-1 win of the Pirates.
Making his first big-league start and batting ninth as the DH, the 23-year-old helped put the finishing touches on the rout by slugging his first career homer in the eighth inning -- a grand slam off Kyle Nicolas. Canario has flashed big-time power in the minors, launching eight homers in 36 games for Triple-A Iowa this season after mashing 30 over 101 games in the high minors the year before, but he still needs to prove he can make consistent enough contact against major-league pitching to become a significant part of the Cubs' future.
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Cubs' Javier Assad: Cruises to fourth win
Rotowire
Assad (4-3) picked up the win in Tuesday's 14-1 rout of the Pirates, allowing one run on five hits and a walk over five innings. He struck out eight.
A Ke'Bryan Hayes solo shot in the third inning was the only blemish on Assad's line as the 26-year-old righty set a new career high for strikeouts in a game. Since getting fully stretched out and locking down a spot in the Cubs rotation in mid-August, Assad sports a 2.68 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 36:14 K:BB through 47 innings. He'll likely next take the mound this weekend at home against the Rockies.
