Cubs place big offseason signing on 10-day IL

The Cubs placed shortstop Dansby Swanson on the 10-day injured list due to a left heel contusion. The placement is retroactive to July 6. Miles Mastrobuoni was called up from Triple-A to take Swanson’s spot on the active roster.

Swanson made an early exit from Wednesday’s game due to the injury, which occurred while he was running the bases. The injury doesn’t appear to be particularly serious, as Cubs manager David Ross told reporters (including MLB.com’s Bill Ladson) that Swanson might have been available if necessary in Chicago’s game Friday. However, since Swanson already decided to skip the All-Star Game due to his heel problem, the club apparently opted for a 10-day IL stint to allow the shortstop to fully heal up. The All-Star break will automatically absorb four of the 10 minimum days Swanson must miss, helping minimize his absence from Chicago’s lineup.

The Cubs are an underwhelming 41-46 as the break approaches, and the club is seven games out of both the NL Central lead and a wild-card berth. It certainly wasn’t what the Wrigleyville denizens were hoping for after the Cubs made some notable moves in the offseason, highlighted by their seven-year, $177M free-agent contract with Swanson. While a lot has gone wrong for the Cubs in the first half, Swanson has been living up to his end of the deal, hitting .258/.343/.409 with 10 homers over 367 plate appearances. Between his 108 wRC+ and his spectacular glovework at shortstop, Swanson has 2.9 fWAR, a total bested by only 18 position players in baseball.

Nico Hoerner moved over from second base to shortstop in Swanson’s absence over the last two games and will likely continue to fill in until Swanson returns. The hot-hitting Christopher Morel will probably get most of the second base action, with Patrick Wisdom getting more time at third base if Morel is at the keystone. Chicago is a little shorthanded in the middle infield since Nick Madrigal is sidelined with a hamstring strain, though with Swanson maybe missing only 10 days in total, the Cubs likely have enough to get by until the All-Star break.