ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. \u2014 Less than two weeks into the season, the Chicago Cubs\u2019 starting pitching depth already is being tested.<\/p>\n
The Cubs placed left-hander Matthew Boyd on the 15-day injured list with a biceps strain Monday before their series opener against the Tampa Bay Rays. Right-hander Javier Assad was recalled from Triple-A Iowa and will start Tuesday in place of Boyd. The IL move is retroactive to Friday, making April 18 the earliest Boyd could rejoin the rotation.<\/p>\n
Boyd and manager Craig Counsell described the injury as minor and expect the veteran to be sidelined for the minimum time. The issue didn\u2019t bother Boyd during his two starts this season, but he was taking longer to bounce back afterward. He felt good throwing his bullpen Sunday and even better Monday, but the Cubs decided not to risk pushing through it this early in the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrankly, given a different time of the season, I\u2019d take the ball and keep going,\u201d Boyd said. \u201cJust felt it was best to think long term on this and buy a little extra time and be ready for when I come off it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m constantly aware of what I\u2019m feeling, and when something was taking just a little bit longer \u2014 it\u2019s not something that\u2019s stagnant. It\u2019s been feeling better every day, especially when we pushed it (Sunday).\u201d<\/p>\n
There was a potential path to skipping Boyd\u2019s start Tuesday and avoiding the IL. But Sunday\u2019s unexpected doubleheader<\/a> in Cleveland and a quick turnaround to Monday\u2019s afternoon game against the Rays \u2014 combined with already losing multi-inning bullpen depth with Colin Rea expected to get a bulk of Wednesday\u2019s innings<\/a> in place of the injured Cade Horton<\/a> \u2014 complicated that option.<\/p>\n \u201cYou never want to compound things, so when there\u2019s an opportunity to buy a little time, you want to be more cautious, especially while the calendar is still in April,\u201d Boyd said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s what was portrayed to me as this is trying to do what\u2019s best for everything. But, yeah, I\u2019m optimistic of coming out of this normal.<\/p>\n \u201cHopefully it\u2019s just one of those things that you look back on when you\u2019re in August and you\u2019re like, OK, you\u2019re a start behind in the overall total and it was good that we took a break, took a breather, instead of risking it.\u201d<\/p>\n Counsell called it a next-man-up situation and a chance for Assad to make a couple of big-league starts.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was just about where we\u2019re trending,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cThis is the best thing to do for Matt and for us to win as many games as we can this year.\u201d<\/p>\n The injury won\u2019t require Boyd to get imaging on his biceps, and he isn\u2019t expected to stop throwing while he\u2019s on the IL.<\/p>\n