Cubs' starter Andrew Cashner left the game on Tuesday with tightness in his shoulder, and underwent an MRI this morning to find the root cause. According to Gordon Wittenmeyer, Cashner has a mild strain on the back of his rotator cuff, a shoulder injury that will land the second-year pitcher on the DL.
This is pretty bad timing for the Cubs because they also had to put Randy Wells on the DL this morning with discomfort in his forearm. So the Cubs are now done two starting pitchers less than a week into the regular season.
Cashner had looked very impressive in his first start of the season, going just over five innings and allowing one run on two hits. According to Bruce Levine of ESPN Chicago, Cashner responded very well to treatment after he was pulled out of the game last night.
"It's just a little tightness. We're going to be cautious with everybody, especially early in the season. Hopefully it's not serious. He didn't have any trouble in camp. It caught us off guard completely. But again, he was honest with us, and we were able to get him out of there before anything bad happened."
One source familiar with the situation said Cashner responded well to pressure tests from team trainers before leaving Wrigley Field for Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
The Cubs have called up Casey Coleman to take one of their spots on the roster. We don't know yet who else they will use to fill in for the other starter.
We'll be updating this stream with more on Cashner's injury, and the Cubs search for new starting pitching. For more on the Cubs head on over to Bleed Cubbie Blue.