Drew Smyly seeks consistency and Dansby Swanson hopes for a minimum IL stint as the Chicago Cubs lose 6-3 to the New York Yankees – The Denver Post

The Chicago Cubs and shortstop Dansby Swanson are playing it safe with his injury.

Ahead of the four-day All-Star break beginning Monday, Swanson went on the 10-day injured list before Saturday’s game at Yankee Stadium because of his bruised left heel. The Cubs recalled infielder Miles Mastrobuoni, who started Saturday at third base in the 6-3 loss to the New York Yankees.

The move is retroactive to Thursday, setting up Swanson to return as soon as July 16 versus the Boston Red Sox at Wrigley Field. Swanson hasn’t played since he sustained the injury Wednesday in Milwaukee.

“I mean, unfortunately we’re in this position,” Swanson said Saturday. “I feel like it was almost in a way like a good insurance policy to not lose some of the retroactive days. So it stinks, but we have to make the best decision possible for the group.”

The timing sets up Swanson to potentially miss only two games after the All-Star break — if he doesn’t need any more time for his heel to recover.

After pulling out of the All-Star Game on Friday, Swanson confirmed Saturday he will not travel to Seattle to partake in the festivities. Instead he will go back home to rest, recover and continue his treatment plan to get back on the field as soon as possible.

He sounded optimistic he will require the minimum IL stint but stopped short of guaranteeing that timeline for his return.

“I’ve definitely learned to not give out any promises in this game,” Swanson said. “But that’s definitely the hope.”

Swanson dealt with a similar situation in 2019, when a bruised right heel caused him to miss 30 games. He believes his current injury is less severe based on the minor improvements he has seen each day. He plans to utilize the treatment options that worked last time and will get the custom orthotics he always wears altered to alleviate pressure on his left heel.

“You try to go off of what you feel, and if I’m not able to perform the way that is needed for the job to get done well, then it’s only going to hurt us,” Swanson said. “I would love to have said that I don’t have any experience (with this injury) because that means I wouldn’t have been hurt in the first place, but it just kind of comes with it. We’re obviously moving in the right direction.”

Swanson hasn’t gotten to the point of testing his heel with baseball activities. For someone used to playing every day — he came into the season having sat out only one game during the previous three years — Swanson acknowledged it’s “pretty terrible” being forced to the bench.

“My body already kind of feels crappy just because I’m so used to doing something every single day,” he said. “But we’re working through it and it gives me a little bit of a different opportunity to help in other ways.

“Like, I love talking to guys about hitting, love picking people’s brains. It’s unfortunate that I’m not able to play, but I could use these few days to gain a little bit of a different perspective and look at things from a 30,000-foot view.”

Drew Smyly still searching for consistency

The All-Star break is coming at the right time for left-hander Drew Smyly.

Smyly’s tough stretch continued in Saturday’s loss. He surrendered six hits and four runs, including two homers, and issued four walks in four innings.

In his last eight starts, Smyly owns a 6.75 ERA. Walks have been part of the problem; he has 22 in that span with four of those starts featuring three or more walks.

“Lately it just seems I haven’t been throwing as many strikes, getting ahead in the counts,” Smyly said. “I really think that’s it. A little more aggressive in the strike zone … been nibbling a little bit, trying to be maybe too perfect hitting spots, like on the corner of the zones.

“And when they’re not being as aggressive as it feels like they usually are against me, it puts me in bad counts and then it’s tough to pitch when you’re in 2-1, 3-1 counts.”

Smyly believes the issues stem more from his mindset than a mechanical flaw in his delivery or an issue with one of his pitches. He still is confident he can throw a strike at any moment, but that hasn’t aligned with the right level of aggressiveness in the zone.

The break will give Smyly an opportunity to reset for the second half.

“When things go a little south on you, it could feel like the strike zone shrinks or you have to do a little too much,” Smyly said, “and when they’re going right, you just kind of say here it is and things go your way. So I think it’s a little bit of baseball in trying to overcompensate at times.

“I haven’t given the team a good chance. But I’ve always been capable of throwing strikes and mixing speeds, and it’s just a matter of executing and getting myself in better counts.”

Miles Mastrobuoni taking a simpler approach

In a 24-hour span, Mastrobuoni went from being penciled in the Triple-A Iowa lineup to stepping into the batter’s box against Gerrit Cole at Yankee Stadium.

He tried to stay level-headed through the crazy sequence, rooted in something he discovered during the 10 days he was with Iowa after he got optioned June 27. It stemmed from a conversation with Triple-A hitting coach John Mallee that centered on his decision making and timing.

“I just wanted to find something that I can go to that was simple and that I can trust every day,” Mastrobuoni said Saturday.

He admitted the sporadic big-league playing time has been a challenge; this is the third time the Cubs have optioned and then recalled the 27-year-old this season. He has appeared in 30 games, including 18 starts, with 75 plate appearances.

“I was down pretty bad a little bit,” Mastrobuoni said. “It gets frustrating. You just want to do something to help the team win, and it felt like day in and day out I just wasn’t.

“It gets a little tough, but I’ve got to find a way either way. I didn’t really do too good of a job doing that. So when I did go down there, I didn’t want to cloud my mind with a bunch of things. I just tried to find one or two things that I can just have in my head that will keep me locked in.”

Mastrobuoni collected two hits off Cole in the loss, including a leadoff double in the third that led to the Cubs’ first run. The multihit game was his first of the season and second in his big-league career.

Despite the Cubs’ loss, it was a dream day for Mastrobuoni, who grew up a Yankees fan. His family is from the area and was at the ballpark Saturday.

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