The bad luck keeps piling up for the Chicago Cubs’ pitching staff.
At this point, Cubs fans are bracing themselves every day in anticipation of a new, wild way that the Cubs will lose yet another pitcher to injury.
On Saturday, it was none other than appendicitis.
Left-handed reliever Hoby Milner had emergency appendectomy surgery on Friday night, the Cubs announced ahead of Saturday’s matchup with the Milwaukee Brewers.
As a result, he was placed on the 15-day IL, and the team recalled right-hander Tyler Ferguson from Triple-A Iowa in a corresponding move.
“(Milner) woke up in the middle of the night and had major stomach pain,” manager Craig Counsell told reporters at American Family Field. “He actually Ubered himself to the emergency room and then had surgery. Everything’s fine now,” Counsell said.
Counsell added that Milner is looking at a four-to-six-week absence.
Milner is now the fourth Cubs pitcher to land on the IL in the last week, joining Edward Cabrera (hamstring), Ben Brown (neck) and Phil Maton (knee).
Altogether, 12 pitchers on the Cubs’ 40-man roster are currently sidelined either temporarily or for the season.
Milner, whom the Cubs signed to a one-year, $3.75 million deal in free agency this offseason, has a 3.53 ERA, a 1.21 WHIP, and 18 strikeouts in 35.2 innings this season. He had a 3.84 ERA in 70.1 innings — the latter a single-season career-high — with the Texas Rangers last season.
Ferguson has made just two appearances for the Cubs this season after a trade with the Athletics in May. He has a 2.70 ERA and five strikeouts in 3.1 innings pitched. In 19 minor-league appearances with both the Cubs and Athletics organizations, Ferguson has a 4.18 ERA and 1.31 WHIP over 23.2 innings.
In the other half of the Cubs’ Saturday roster move, the team optioned right-hander Jayden Murray to Triple-A Iowa and added Bryse Wilson to the active roster.
The Cubs claimed Wilson, 28, off waivers from the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday. The right-hander made just one appearance for the Phillies this year, tossing two scoreless innings against the New York Mets on June 18.
In his 9-year MLB career, Wilson has a 4.80 ERA and 1.41 WHIP over 463 innings pitched.
Murray heads back to the minors after a brief, two-game stint, which saw him allow six earned runs over just three innings. The Cubs acquired the reliever via trade with the Houston Astros on June 21. In exchange, Chicago sent minor-league first baseman Cameron Sisneros to Houston.
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