Uncertainty swirls around Marcus Stroman’s injury. ‘I have no idea, that’s the honest truth,’ Jed Hoyer says of Chicago Cubs righty.

Marcus Stroman might have thrown his last pitch of the season for the Chicago Cubs. Or the right-hander could throw important innings down the stretch as they vie for a postseason spot.

The Cubs aren’t ruling anything out amid the range of outcomes and uncertainty surrounding the rarity of a new injury Stroman sustained earlier this week.

The Cubs announced Wednesday that Stroman suffered a right rib cartilage fracture and will remain on the 15-day injured list, a move originally prompted by right hip inflammation.

There are so many unknowns about the short- and long-term Cubs future of Stroman, whose player opt-out appeared at the midpoint of the season to be an easy decision.

President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer did not want to try to estimate when — or if — Stroman, 32, would be back on the mound for the Cubs this season.

“I mean, I have no idea, that’s the honest truth,” Hoyer said Wednesday before the Cubs’ dramatic walk-off 4-3 win over the White Sox. “We don’t really know at this point. We’ll obviously get a real rest period and see how he feels, but it’s not a real common pitching injury. I’ve never seen that before, so for me to speculate would be just false.

“At this point he’ll just rest and hopefully he feels better and comes back and pitches really well.”

The Cubs didn’t provide much clarity on the specifics surrounding Stroman’s injury.

His bullpen session went well Sunday in Toronto, and the Cubs assumed he would start Wednesday, the first day he was eligible to come off the IL, Hoyer said before the series finale against the Sox.

The Cubs found out later Sunday that Stroman was having issues. “We didn’t know if it was muscular, if it was skeletal, if it was indigestion … we had no idea,” Hoyer said.

The team returned from Toronto on Sunday night and Stroman saw a doctor Monday. An MRI revealed the rib cartilage fracture.

“It’s not your usual pitching injury,” Hoyer said. “After the bullpen Sunday, we assumed he was making the start, so, yeah, we were surprised.”

Hoyer couldn’t answer whether the injury occurred while Stroman was throwing during Sunday’s bullpen, which was supposed to be a lighter session ahead of Wednesday’s would-be start.

Hoyer said he feels pretty comfortable with the in-house options to bolster the pitching staff as needed during the final six weeks of the regular season. Javier Assad, coming off another quality start Wednesday, is expected to remain in the rotation, while manager David Ross is leaning “pretty heavily” to having left-hander Drew Smyly slot back into the rotation. Right-hander Hayden Wesneski is also an option.

“This time of year, you just sort of roll with things like that and move forward and we have depth,” Hoyer said. “We’ve obviously been using that depth for a while and performing, so we have to keep doing that.

“But this time of year, you don’t stop and wallow too much. You say it’s too bad, we’d love to have him pitching for us, but he’s not and we’ll keep playing well.”

The Cubs can use one of their two expanded roster spots on Sept. 1 on a pitcher. Right-hander Ben Brown would be a versatile choice, especially because he is already on the 40-man roster. However, Brown is on the IL at Triple-A Iowa and hasn’t pitched since July 30 because of a left oblique/lat injury. He’s rehabbing at the team’s complex in Mesa, Ariz.

Left-hander Jordan Wicks, their 2021 first-round pick, is another interesting option. He owns a 3.81 ERA in six starts with Iowa and hasn’t allowed more than a run in his last three outings. But he is not on the 40-man roster. The Cubs haven’t been afraid to make a bold late-season promotion before, notably calling up Nico Hoerner from Double-A Tennessee in September 2019 to aid a banged-up infield.

“We’ve been creative when we feel like it’s the right thing to do for the organization, but we’re not in that position right now,” Hoyer said. “But certainly when you have a chance to go to the playoffs and you have a chance to win, you’re a lot more aggressive with those kinds of decisions.”

Hoyer also did not fully rule out bringing up top prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong, though he cautioned “it’s way too early to talk about that” with just 12 games at Iowa under his belt.

Crow-Armstrong’s elite outfield defense and baserunning could be an asset off the bench. He has hit well since his promotion to Triple A, owning a .306/.424/.612 slash line in 59 plate appearances.

“Right now we’re just focused on his development, and it’s been fun to watch,” Hoyer said.

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