The Cubs have been careful not to announce any kind of timetable for the return of third baseman Kris Bryant. That has remained the case, even as Bryant has started the process of accumulating at-bats to test his left wrist.
On Saturday, Cubs manager David Ross noted that Bryant (10-day injured list) was back at Wrigley Field for a lighter workout, which would include taking more swings. This comes after the third baseman garnered five at-bats at the South Bend, Ind., alternate training site on Friday.
"He's day to day, really," Ross reiterated. "Every day we're kind of adjusting or kind of listening to him and seeing how things are going. He's on the right path. We'll continue to try to get him at-bats as much as we can up until we all feel like he's ready to come off."
Bryant injured his wrist and a finger on his left hand on a diving catch attempt on Aug. 12 in Cleveland. The third baseman hit a home run in his next at-bat, but then went 2-for-16 over his next four games while attempting to play through the issue.
Through 16 games this season, Bryant has hit .177 with two homers, four RBIs, a .594 OPS and 20 strikeouts compared to six walks in 70 plate appearances.
When a medical injection did not alleviate the issue, Bryant was placed on the IL on Aug. 22 (retroactive to Aug. 19). So far, there is no indication as to whether Bryant might be ready to rejoin the Cubs before the end of the road trip, which concludes with a three-game set in Pittsburgh (beginning Tuesday).
"The reason why we put him on the IL," Ross said, "is to try to get him as healthy as we possibly can. So we'll see when he gets through this rehab, how he feels, and we'll manage that when it comes."
Worth noting
• For Saturday's doubleheader, the Cubs promoted right-hander Adbert Alzolay from South Bend as the team's 29th man against the Reds. Alzolay (No. 6 on MLB Pipeline's Top 30 Cubs prospects list) logged five impressive innings for Chicago on Aug. 19. In Chicago's 6-5 walk-off loss in Game 2, Alzolay pitched a scoreless fourth inning, during which five Reds and Cubs were ejected.
"In case something may go awry, he can give us length out of the 'pen," Ross said. "He pitched well for us. It's on a day that he could be scheduled to pitch anyways. It just made a lot of sense from a lot of different angles. And then it'd be nice to take a look at him out of the bullpen, if we get that opportunity."
• Ross announced that righty Tyler Chatwood is scheduled to start against the Reds on Sunday. Chatwood returned from the 10-day IL (back) on Tuesday and lasted 1 1/3 innings (two runs on three hits with two strikeouts and five walks) against the Tigers.
"Tyler's thrown the ball well," Ross said. "A bad outing is no concern -- to just take him out of the rotation. I think him coming back and trying to find his sharpness, we need Chatty to be good. There's not a whole lot of thought other than that in it. We'll continue to assess as we move along."
• On Tuesday, lefty José Quintana also returned from the 10-day IL (left thumb) and gave Chicago three solid relief innings. Prior to Saturday's doubleheader, Ross was not ready to reveal the upcoming plan for Quintana.
Senior Reporter Jordan Bastian covers the Cubs for MLB.com. He previously covered Cleveland from 2011-18 and Toronto from 2005-10. Subscribe to his Cubs Beat newsletter.