ATLANTA – After the Cubs’ 5-4 extra-innings win against the Pirates on Monday, a game right-hander Adbert Alzolay closed out, he went through the handshake line with his gloved left hand extended across his body, his right arm hanging at his side.
For another player, that might not have stood out. But the strength of Alzolay’s high-fives after wins had become a running joke among his teammates who brace for impact.
The next day, the Cubs put Alzolay on the 15-day IL with what they called a strained right forearm, and they recalled side-armer José Cuas to reinforce the bullpen.
Alzolay underwent medical testing on Monday, and the team will know more about his recovery timeline and diagnosis after they get back the results. Alzolay was not available to speak to reporters before the game Monday because he was still undergoing evaluation.
“We put him on the IL, we got testing the next day, it’s an elbow, so it’s that’s concerning,” manager Craig Counsell said.
According to Counsell and pitching coach Tommy Hottovy, Alzolay hadn’t been dealing with soreness in that area before Sunday.
“It started as what he described to me as some general tightness when he was warming up, and then thought it was the kind that would just go away as he got loose,” Hottovy said. “And it just never really got loose.”
Alzolay took the mound in the tenth inning Sunday, with a three-run lead and an automatic extra-innings runner standing on second. He gave up a lead-off home run to Connor Joe and walked Jack Suwinski, prompting Hottovy to take a mound visit.
“Even when I went out for the mound visit, there was no sign of like, ‘Hey, I’m hurting, I’m sore, I’m tight, I’m not feeling great.’ … So that was at least a positive there. But then obviously, as it went on, it just never really got any better.”
Alzolay bore down and got out of the inning, a recovery for which Counsell said he was “proud of him.”
“Feeling way better with my mechanics now,” Alzolay said after the game. “So it’s just taking the little things so far and then keep building of it.”
Alzolay had begun the season as the closer, a role he’d won last season, too. But after back-to-back blown saves last month, he moved to a lower leverage role.
The Cubs found that Alzolay’s armslot was climbing, and he was opening up his chest too much early in his delivery.
“What makes him so good is that he can use his lower body really athletically and then just let that upper body happen naturally,” Hottovy said.
Hottovy agreed with Alzolay that he was trending in the right direction mechanically.
It’s also possible that those early mechanical issues put extra stress on Alzolay’s arm before he addressed them.
“Anytime you get more chest-dominant, open up, it’s going to put strain somewhere,” Hottovy agreed. “Something down the chain is going to get it. This area is the closest to the end of the chain as you possibly can get.”
Just last September, Alzolay spent two and a half weeks on the IL with a strained right forearm. But Hottovy said the team wouldn’t know if this was a similar injury until doctors had a chance to look at Alzolay’s imaging.
Of the eight Cubs on the IL as of Monday, five were relievers. Alzolay joined Julian Merryweather (rib stress fracture), Drew Smyly (right hip impingement), Daniel Palencia (strained right shoulder) and Yency Almonte (strained right shoulder).
