The Cubs placed three members of their bullpen – right-handed Jason Adam, Brandon Workman and Dan Winkler – on the COVID-19 injured list, Robert Murray of FanSided was among those to sign up. The move comes “out of abundance of caution” after coach Chris Young tested positive for COVID-19. To take the throwers ‘places, the Cubs’ fellow rowers remembered Brad Wieck and Justin Steele, and they chose Pedro Stropse contract, per Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com.
It’s unclear how much time Adam, Workman and Winkler will miss, but all three are away from the club in quarantine, Bob Nightengale from USA Today tweets. The Cubs have received a combined 11 1/3 innings of Adam, Workman and Winkler this season. Adam was the most successful of the three, after giving up one merit run and hitting seven containers in 3 2/3 overs. Workman surrendered three runs (two earnings) over 3 2/3 frames, but he had a total of five runs. Winkler delivered one ER on two hits and struck five over four innings, though he did succeed, despite a batter per nine.
The Cubs signed Strop in the off-season for a minor league contract, and the referee is now in his second MLB series with the organization. Sroop, now 35 years old, has been extremely effective for most of his previous Cubs season, which lasted from 2013-19. He surpassed the 60-frame mark in three of those seasons and combined for 373 overs of 2.90 ERA ball. Strop temporarily left the Cubs to go with the division rival Reds in free agency in the 2020 campaign, but he threw only 2 1/3 overs before Cincinnati nominated him for the assignment.