Carter Hawkins Provides Quick Injury Updates on Javier Assad, Miguel Amaya
With all the talk about who the Cubs will add via trade, they will also be getting reinforcements from the injured list by the deadline or even earlier. Javier Assad has yet to pitch this season due to an oblique injury suffered early in camp that flared up during his rehab stint. Miguel Amaya was off to an incredible start both behind and at the plate, but he’s missed the five-plus weeks with his own oblique issue.
Both are progressing in their respective recoveries, as Carter Hawkins shared with the Mully & Haugh Show on 670 The Score.
“[Assad has] definitely had a slower return, and had slight setbacks as he’s gone through his process of getting back from the oblique,” Hawkins explained. “I think with him, we’re not necessarily gonna rush him. We want to make sure that we have the opportunity to have him through August and September, so I think that’s probably what we’re shooting for in terms of Javy right now.
“A little bit sooner for Miggy, you know, he’s getting back into some real baseball activities right now and I think there’s a chance that we could see him sooner than later. It’d be great to have both of those guys, obviously.”
Knowing they’ll have both players back in the next few weeks doesn’t change the calculus on the trade front, where the Cubs figure to be among the most active teams in the league. They need to add at least one starter, with a big bat and a high-leverage arm looking like strong possibilities as well. Striking a balance between impact, depth, and cost (both payroll and player capital) won’t be easy, but that’s what baseball execs are paid to do.
“I think arms is definitely — if you just look at how we’ve performed overall — is the area we can do that the most,” Hawkins said. “But to your point on position players, yes, our position players have been outstanding, but adding more depth and being a little bit more resilient for some of the injuries that are inevitably going to happen over the course of the next few months, that’s something we’ll look into too.
“If we can find things to help our team and they don’t have an exorbitant price, I think we’ll strike.”
The Cubs front office has been criticized in the past for not being aggressive enough in pursuits of coveted players, primarily because the goal has been to seek value over production. Sometimes that works out in their favor, and other times it does not. With the end of their contractual runway coming up, Hawkins and Jed Hoyer can’t really afford to wait for moves to fall into their laps.
That could make for a very exciting — or perhaps frustrating — next few weeks.
