Cubs Shake Up Pitching Staff, Boyd Returns

0:00It's April 23rd, welcome in. This is MLB News Today, where baseball meets AI, Chicago Cubs shaking up their pitching staff. Javier Assad is heading to the bullpen to clear a rotation spot for Matthew Boyd, who's back from the 15-day injured list and starting tonight. Against the Phillies, Assad sticks on the active roster since they option Luke Little down to make room. Assad had a solid start to the season with three turns in the rotation. He threw five and two-thirds scoreless endings to beat the raise in his debut and kept it tied against the Mets, giving up just one solo homer in a two-to-one win. That middle start against Philly was rough, though, where they lit him up for nine runs. Meanwhile, closer Daniel Polincius injury got a clearer diagnosis. What they first called a left-o-bleak strain turned out to be a mild, late strain after more tests. Since he's a righty, the left side issue isn't as bad, and he's expected to start throwing this week with a return around two weeks out. On another front, Porter Hodge went under the knife for UCL surgery this week.

1:03It was a full Tommy John Ligman reconstruction plus an internal brace, so he's looking at 12 to 14 months to recover. He'll shift to the 60-day injured list soon and start next season there, too. These moves keep the cubs flexible early on, with Boyd stepping in and reliever stepping up while they heal the bullpen death.