Cabrera exits with hand cramp after struggles with velocity, command

CHICAGO -- Edward Cabrera wore a look of frustration as he headed off the mound following a chat with manager Craig Counsell and head athletic trainer Nick Frangella on Tuesday night at Wrigley Field. The pitcher was doing what he could to keep going, but it was clear his outing had reached its end.

Three starts after coming off the injured list due to a blister issue on his right middle finger, Cabrera was pulled in the fifth inning of a 5-2 loss to the Rockies due to cramping in his right hand. It was painful enough that it frightened Cabrera for a moment, but all indications at this stage are that the issue should not be serious.

“All things considered, he’s good,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “It’s a cramp right now, as far as we can tell. All the other tests are clean and negative. I think it probably scared him a little bit.”

And given the extent of the injury issues that have hit the Cubs’ rotation throughout this season, it made sense for Counsell to play things safe.

Here are some of the rotation setbacks the Cubs have faced:

• Lefty Justin Steele opened the season on the injured list while coming back from surgery on his left elbow in April of last season. In late April this year, Steele had a setback (left flexor strain) and was shut down. He is back with the Cubs this week and, barring anything unexpected, could resume throwing next Monday.

• Righty Cade Horton (runner-up for the National League Rookie of the Year last year) was shelved after only two starts this season due to a right elbow injury that required season-ending surgery.

• Lefty Matthew Boyd landed on the IL in early May after a fluke left knee injury that necessitated surgery. Boyd was nearing his return last week before left shoulder soreness flared. He logged a bullpen session Tuesday and could be back soon.

• Right-hander Jameson Taillon landed on the IL after sustaining a left hamstring strain in the second inning of his outing against the Giants on June 7 at Wrigley Field.

• Righty Jaxon Wiggins (MLB Pipeline’s No. 3 Cubs prospect and No. 85 on the Top 100 list) was placed on the Minor League IL due to right elbow inflammation with Triple-A Iowa in early April. He got back into game action Monday in the Arizona Complex League (Rookie level).

“Injuries are part of the game. They’re part of the challenge,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said Tuesday afternoon. “Some seasons, you maybe skate through it a little bit. Some seasons you don’t. We haven’t. But, we have to fight through it and we have to find different ways and be creative.”

Cabrera was on the 15-day IL from May 21 until June 4 due to the blister woes, which have been a recurring issue throughout his career. After coming off the shelf, Cabrera allowed eight runs in 3 2/3 innings against the Giants on June 5, though six runs came in the fourth. He was sharper last time out, limiting the Rockies to two runs over 5 1/3 innings last Thursday in Colorado.

In this second straight start against the Rockies, Cabrera went nine up, nine down before running into trouble in the fourth inning. Colorado collected three hits in a row -- the last being a two-run homer by TJ Rumfield. The Cubs' righty got through the rest of the frame unscathed, but then had clear command trouble to begin the fifth.

“It was just a cramp that I felt,” Cabrera said via team interpreter Fredy Quevedo Jr. “I felt it in the fifth. I threw a changeup and then after that, [catcher Miguel Amaya] asked for another changeup and I was like, ‘Oh, wait. No.’ I was scared, but it was just a cramp.”

Cabrera said he had never felt this particular sensation before Tuesday’s outing, and Counsell noted that it was unrelated to the previous blister issue. The Cubs plan on monitoring the pitcher in the coming days to assess whether he can make his next scheduled start as planned.

Cabrera ended with five runs charged to his line -- two came after his departure -- in 4 1/3 innings that raised his ERA to 5.21 on the season. It has been an up-and-down showing that comes after the Cubs pulled off a trade over the winter to make Cabrera the big-ticket addition to their starting staff.

Hoyer will surely be targeting more rotation help at the Trade Deadline, but the Cubs need the current group to hold it together in the meantime.

“The rotation’s kind of doing what it can,” Hoyer said. “Yes, external rotation additions are a possibility. Not as much now as they are later. But yeah, that part of our team struggling is something I think, honestly, it’s kind of logical given what we’re missing. I think some guys have stepped up, but we’re going to need more of that.”