Sprained finger sends Heyward to DL
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DENVER -- Jason Heyward has been in limbo since injuring his knuckle fielding in Friday's game with the Yankees. During Monday's rain delay before the start of a three-game set in Colorado, the Cubs placed Heyward on the 10-day disabled list, retroactive to May 6, with a sprained finger on his right hand.
Chicago selected the contract of right-handed pitcher Dylan Floro from Triple-A Iowa to take Heyward's spot on the roster, giving the Cubs get much-needed pitching help after using eight pitchers in Sunday night's 18-inning loss to the Yankees, and after their bullpen pitched a combined 19 2/3 innings over the past two days.
The Cubs also announced a trade with San Diego, sending outfielder Matt Szczur to the Padres in exchange for Minor League right-handed pitcher Justin Hancock. Szczur had been designated for assignment Saturday.
Floro, 26, was in Colorado when his callup was announced and was available for Monday's game. He made his Major League debut with the Rays last season and went 0-1 with a 4.20 ERA in 12 relief appearances spanning 15 innings.
The right-hander went 1-0 with a 5.06 ERA in one start and seven relief appearances over 16 innings at Triple-A Iowa this season. Floro signed a Minor League contract with the Cubs last offseason and was a non-roster invitee to big league Spring Training.
Hancock, 26, is 24-29 with a 3.91 ERA in 116 career Minor League appearances, 90 of which were starts. He was originally selected by San Diego in the ninth round of the 2011 Draft. Hancock pitched with Double-A San Antonio this year, going 0-2 with a 6.23 ERA in 10 relief outings over 13 innings.
Szczur was originally selected by the Cubs in the fifth round of the 2010 Draft and made his big league debut in 2014. He hit .211 (4-for-19) with a double and three RBIs in 15 games with the Cubs this year, and over parts of four seasons in Chicago, he batted .243 (82-for-338) with eight homers and 40 RBIs in 202 games.
Rest of the roster fine, if not rested
At least a couple other Cubs were aching after Sunday night's 18-inning loss. Javier Báez fouled a ball off the top of his left foot, and Anthony Rizzo was hit by an Aroldis Chapman pitch on his left wrist. Both played all 18 innings and both were back in the lineup Monday.
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"I've been hit probably 100 times," Rizzo said. "It's sore, but not any more sore than any other pitch I've been hit with. We had an X-ray, and it's fine. It's not broke. What's the worst that can happen?"
Baez was in the lineup at shortstop Monday after playing the whole game at second Sunday.
"Between [Addison Russell] and Javy, even though Javy hit his foot last night, I thought, 'Let Javy go play shortstop tonight,'" manager Joe Maddon explained, noting that he also put Tommy La Stella in at third and moved Kris Bryant to right field. "I thought KB might actually enjoy the vacation out there. We're so interchangeable. The goal was to get everybody in that was not in there [Sunday]."