Chicago Cubs: Jon Lester injury may cause a Tyler Chatwood start

Chicago Cubs ace pitcher Jon Lester was injured in Monday’s game and may be out a little while. The Cubs may be forced to plug in a scary replacement.

The 2019 MLB season is off to a rough start for the Chicago Cubs. After winning their season opener over the Texas Rangers by a score of 12-4, the Cubbies dropped six straight before dropping 14 runs on their bitter rival, beating the Milwaukee Brewers for their second victory of the season.

The Cubs ended up losing two of three to the Brew Crew, but then found themselves back home. It was finally time for the home opener. Taking on another NL Central rival, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Cubs took Wrigley Field Monday afternoon and put up another offensive explosion, beating Pittsburgh 10-0.

Just 10 games in, the Cubs are 3-7 and facing some major questions which stem from months ago. Over the offseason, fans questioned what the front office was doing on the pitching front. The Cubs didn’t improve their bullpen in the slightest, and even starting pitching has been spotty to start the year.

The starting pitching just took another hit, too, as Jon Lester exited Monday’s home opener with a hamstring injury. At the moment, it doesn’t appear to be too serious. Lester told the media after the game that it felt more like a cramp than anything else.

Still, the club placed Lester on the 10-day injured list (IL). Skipper Joe Maddon wasn’t sure about how long Lester would be out, but said that he would for sure miss one start — if not two.

“Of course he’s going to miss a start,” Maddon told 670 The Score following the win. He followed that up with hesitantly saying Lester could even miss a pair of starts.

What came after that, though, might worry Cubs fans quite a bit. Maddon talked about how Tyler Chatwood has been “throwing the ball well,” and that the Cubs have an option to bring him back up as a starter in Lester’s place.

I don’t have to say much other than this: Cubs fans won’t like that idea — not a bit.

Chatwood is the guy the Cubs brought in last year from the Colorado Rockies, thinking he could be a valuable fifth starter. What they got instead was a pitcher who couldn’t not walk a batter if he tried. It got ugly in a hurry for Chatwood, and he ended up with a career-high 95 walks in 2018, appearing in 24 games.

I think I speak on behalf of all Cubs fans when I say this: “Get well soon, Jon.”

Seriously, we need you.