Lobaton to 60-day IL with shoulder sprain

MILWAUKEE -- Cubs catcher Jose Lobaton required the help of his teammates to get out of his uniform on Tuesday night. Manager David Ross called it a sad moment at the end of a tough loss.

On Wednesday morning, the revolving role of Cubs backup catcher took another turn. Lobaton was placed on the 60-day injured list with a severe right shoulder sprain and Taylor Gushue arrived from Triple-A Iowa to assume the reserve duties behind All-Star Willson Contreras.

"It was not a laughing matter," Ross said on Wednesday. "But even me and Willson walking off the field with Lobey hurt, shaking our heads kind of like, 'I mean, another backup catcher,' right? It's just a position that we're short in."

Consider the timeline of the Cubs' series of unfortunate catching events:

• Spring Training: Austin Romine, who was signed to a one-year MLB contract over the winter to be the Cubs' primary backup, dealt with a right knee setback that landed him on the 10-day IL to begin the season.

• April 14: Tony Wolters began the year on the Opening Day roster, but was designated for assignment when Romine was activated from the IL.

• April 26: Wolters returned to the Majors from Triple-A Iowa after Romine landed back on the 10-day IL with a left wrist injury. Romine would eventually be transferred to the 60-day IL.

• May 19: The Cubs promoted P.J. Higgins from Triple-A and designated Wolters for assignment for a second time, trying to find more consistency in the backup job.

• June 11: Higgins landed on the 10-day IL with a right forearm strain, leading to Lobaton's promotion from Triple-A. Higgins was later moved to the 60-day IL and will soon undergo season-ending surgery to repair a flexor tendon.

That string of setbacks led to Tuesday, when Lobaton came off the bench as a pinch-hitter -- with Kris Bryant (right side) and Anthony Rizzo (back) unavailable -- to face Brewers closer Josh Hader with the game on the line.

With two outs and runners on first and second, Lobaton hit a chopper to first baseman Jace Peterson, who fed Hader on the run. The closer slipped on first while covering and awkwardly lunged back to tag the base with his glove while falling. Lobaton hurdled Hader and landed hard on his right shoulder.

"I hate what happened to Lobaton," Peterson told Brewers media. "It definitely got a little dicey there at the end. We were able to come through and Hader was able to make the play."

The final out sealed a fifth consecutive loss for the Cubs and led to the fifth backup catcher experiment of the season. Lobaton avoided a separated shoulder, but the injury (combined with a complicated 40-man roster situation) led to his immediate placement on the 60-day IL.

"Lobey's done nothing but be ready. Works his tail off," Ross said. "You see a guy go down like that and then get out there and see the facial expressions and the emotions, it's just tough. It looked like a pretty severe sprain. He was in some real pain. Hopefully, it's a speedy recovery for him."

The 36-year-old Lobaton boasts 10 years of MLB experience but only appeared in six games for the Cubs. He and the rest of Chicago's backup catchers this season entered Wednesday with a collective slash line of .075/.184/.090 in 76 plate appearances.

It has been a situation -- created, in part, by the offseason trade that shipped Victor Caratini to San Diego along with Yu Darvish -- that has put enormous pressure on Contreras. It also makes catching depth a need at the Trade Deadline.

Through Tuesday, Contreras' 549 2/3 innings caught led the Majors and he had logged more than seven games' worth of innings over the National League's second-ranked catcher (Yadier Molina, 483 innings).

With other position players battling injury issues, Ross liked the switch-hitting Gushue as the next man up. The catcher has hit .272 (.768 OPS) through 36 games for Iowa, with a .317 average and .925 OPS in his 11 most recent games.

"Good attitude. Good at-bat. I think probably bat over defense," Ross said of Gushue. "Glad he's here to help us out in a tough situation."