Cubs bullpen faces new challenge as Yency Almonte lands on IL

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PITTSBURGH — The Cubs’ wave of early-season injuries continued on Saturday, as the team put high-leverage reliever Yency Almonte on the 15-day injured list. In a corresponding move, they recalled side-armer José Cuas from Triple-A Iowa.

“Just didn't recover from his last outing well,” Counsell said.

Almonte held the Padres to one hit in a scoreless inning on Tuesday and then took the next two days off. But playing catch Friday also didn’t go well, Counsell said. The Cubs don’t have a timeline for his recovery.

Almonte has been an increasingly important member of the Cubs bullpen this season, taking on more high-leverage innings since right-hander Julian Merryweather landed on the IL with a stress fracture in a rib a little over a week into the season.

“Counsel’s using us, especially me, in situations where I think, in his head, he expects me to succeed,” Almonte said in a recent conversation with the Sun-Times. “So I'm going with that mindset, going out there like, ‘Okay, I'm getting called in this situation because these are the guys that I’m meant to go get out.’”

Almonte introduced the cutter, a weapon against left-handed hitters, to his repertoire last season, but he said he was “still trying to get a feel for it” then. Over the offseason and in spring training he honed the shape of the pitch.

Against right-handers, his slider and sinker have been a potent combination.

“Whenever I can throw a slider for a strike, I know it’s going to be a good day,” he said, “ as well as my sinker.”

Almonte is the 13th Cubs player to go on the IL this season.

“Everybody fills roles,” Counsell said Saturday of adjusting to Almonte’s absence. “Ben Brown did it last night. So it's going to be different guys that'll fill in. And our bullpen’s in a little bit of a unique situation, but we've done a good job of adapting, and the guys have done a good job of adapting to different roles and pitching in different spots. And we'll continue to do that.”

Brown on Friday threw 3 ⅔ shutout innings in the Cubs’ 7-2 win. He hadn’t pitched in a week, as the Cubs’ plan for him evolved with the health of the rotation.

Brown said he leaned on Adbert Alzolay and Hayden Wesneski, teammates who have served in similar multifaceted roles, for advice.

“They gave me a lot of wisdom, just what to do,” Brown said Saturday afternoon. “And it's also acknowledging that it's not the easiest role to be in.”

Brown logged his first major-league win Friday and kept the lineup card to commemorate the milestone.