Additionally, the Cubs put right-hander Edward Cabrera on the 15-day IL due to a right middle finger blister and recalled right-hander Javier Assad. They also recalled outfielder Kevin Alc\u00e1ntara, optioned infielder James Triantos and called up infielder Owen Miller.<\/p>\n
Right-hander Daniel Palencia was transferred to the 60-day IL to open a 40-man roster spot for Miller, though that doesn\u2019t change Palencia\u2019s timeline to return since he\u2019s been on the IL dating back to June 16.<\/p>\n
The Cubs estimate Swanson will be out for one month with the injury, putting the 32-year-old on track to return with about two weeks left on the schedule. This is Swanson\u2019s first time on the IL since May 2024 when he missed 10 days due to a right knee sprain.<\/p>\n
\u201cDansby\u2019s already ready to attack the injury and do whatever he can to make this go as quick as possible,\u201d manager Craig Counsell said Monday. \u201cI don\u2019t know if there\u2019s any silver lining to this, but we\u2019ll get Dansby back this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Chicago](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ctc-Cardinals-Cubs-Baseball_265707463.jpg\")
Chicago Cubs’ Edward Cabrera, center, looks at catcher Miguel Amaya during the fourth inning of a game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo\/Melissa Tamez)<\/p>\n
While Swanson is sidelined, expect to see a regular middle infield of Nico Hoerner shifting to shortstop and Pedro Ram\u00edrez at second base<\/a>. Matt Shaw will eventually be in the mix, too, as he\u2019s on track to return from his left hand\/wrist sprain<\/a> before Swanson is ready. If Shaw\u2019s pregame work goes well Monday, he will start a rehab assignment Wednesday at Triple-A Iowa.<\/p>\n Miller gives the Cubs a true backup shortstop and also has some experience playing first base. Ultimately, that versatility led to the decision to bring up Miller and swap out Triantos.<\/p>\n Ram\u00edrez now has his first extended playing time opportunity. He\u2019s already made a strong impression in 49 games for the Cubs in which he owns a .299 average, .353 on-base percentage and 120 OPS+.<\/p>\n \u201cPedro\u2019s a good player, bottom line,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cI told you out of spring training, if Pedro has to come and play every day in April, I\u2019m good with it. So, this is after 130 major-league at-bats where he\u2019s really performed. He\u2019s more than ready for this.\u201d<\/p>\n Cabrera\u2019s first season with the Cubs certainly hasn\u2019t played out like they envisioned when they traded with the Miami Marlins<\/a> for the 28-year-old in the offseason. Long coveted by the organization, Cabrera goes on the IL<\/a> for the third time this season and the second instance of a blister problem, something he\u2019s dealt with throughout his career.<\/p>\n Counsell doesn\u2019t believe the issue is serious but also isn\u2019t sure when Cabrera will pitch next. But when he does return, the working plan right now is that Cabrera will be used in relief. The hope is that will mitigate the blister from recurring since it hasn\u2019t been an issue when throwing in shorter stretches during between-start bullpens.<\/p>\n Cabrera informed Counsell and pitching coach Tommy Hottovy of the blister\u2019s emergence after exiting Sunday\u2019s start during the fourth inning, though Counsell said Monday it initially popped up after his final rehab start Aug. 11 at Double A.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got to come up with some better answers on the blisters thing,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cThe nail, the blister, we keep having some issues there. Frankly, one thing we\u2019re going to talk about, is it happening the longer your outings are, and is that causing this? And that may be something we consider for the rest of the year.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re hoping we can have the blister behind us. \u2026 When the volume is lower, maybe we can make some progress there and that can be a fix at least for the last six weeks here.\u201d<\/p>\n Through 15 starts, Cabrera has a 5.68 ERA and 72 ERA+ in 76 innings with the lowest strikeout rate (20.4%) of his six-year career. The beginning of Cabrera\u2019s Cubs career isn\u2019t on the trajectory the team believed it would take.<\/p>\n \u201cIt hasn\u2019t clicked,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cYou spend a lot of time figuring those out. I wish every story was a success story and this one right now is not and we\u2019re going to keep working on trying to find answers and trying to find solutions. It\u2019s something very important, but I wish I could tell you every story is a success story, but we haven\u2019t done it here.\u201d<\/p>\n Cabrera said Monday he is \u201c100%\u201d on board with being used out of the bullpen, saying, \u201cthe important thing is being here and helping the team in whatever way I can.\u201d The blister didn\u2019t affect him until the fourth when he was charged with four runs as the St. Louis Cardinals turned a one-run lead into a 9-2 advantage.<\/p>\n \u201cIn all honesty, it\u2019s frustrating,\u201d Cabrera said. \u201cAs a human being, that\u2019s normal for us. But when I get home, I always thank God and ask him to help overcome these situations. I know they are tough, but they have a purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Chicago Cubs are hopeful that shortstop Dansby Swanson will be back in the lineup before the regular…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":781574,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2398],"tags":[5,24,12075,96106,29966,96008,96105,4914,2540,4,256,415,414,71,4222,738],"class_list":["post-781573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-washington-nationals","tag-baseball","tag-chicago-cubs","tag-city-series","tag-cubs-injured-pitchers","tag-cubs-rotation","tag-dansby-swanson-injury","tag-dansby-swanson-oblique","tag-edward-cabrera","tag-injured-list","tag-mlb","tag-mlb-baseball","tag-nationals","tag-washington","tag-washington-nationals","tag-washingtonnationals","tag-wrigley-field"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/117113951908856855","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=781573"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781573\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/781574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=781573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=781573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=781573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}