MESA, Ariz. -- Seiya Suzuki was on his way back to rejoin the Cubs on Sunday, following Team Japan’s exit from the World Baseball Classic one night earlier. Once the outfielder is back on site, Chicago’s staff will get to work on determining the severity of his right knee injury.
As of Sunday morning, Cubs manager Craig Counsell had little information about Suzuki’s setback -- sustained on a stolen base attempt in Saturday’s 8-5 loss to Venezuela in the Classic quarterfinals. Counsell did not want to speculate about the injury or Suzuki’s timeline until the ballclub examined the outfielder.
“We need to see him, I think is probably the best. He’s on a flight back here,” Counsell said. “[We need to] get our hands on Seiya and see what’s going on. I think it’s just best we wait and see, and let our doctors and trainers take a look at him and see what’s going on.”
In the first inning of Samurai Japan’s game against Venezuela on Saturday, the 31-year-old Suzuki drew a walk to reach base. With two outs, he took off for second and was initially called safe after a hard, headfirst slide. Suzuki was in clear discomfort in the immediate aftermath of the play, which was overturned to an out following a replay review.
Suzuki shifted carefully to his feet and walked slowly off the field, alongside an athletic trainer from Team Japan’s staff. Counsell said imaging was not taken in Miami on Suzuki, whose injury was initially announced as “right knee discomfort” at loanDepot park.
Suzuki was excited to suit up for his home country after missing the 2023 World Baseball Classic due to an oblique injury. In four games in the heart of Japan’s lineup in this spring’s tournament, the outfielder hit .333 (3-for-9) with two homers, five RBIs and six walks. Both of his home runs came in a win over Korea during pool play.
The production and power on display by Suzuki in the Classic showed off his importance for a Cubs team that reached the playoffs in ’25 and has World Series aspirations this year. Last season, Suzuki finished with 32 homers, 31 doubles and 103 RBIs for the North Siders, and then had three homers and a .613 slugging percentage in eight playoff games.
While the Cubs assess Suzuki’s status for Opening Day, they can at least know there are some built-in contingency plans for the outfield.
“Outfield,” Counsell said, “is an area we have the most depth, probably, on the team in this camp.”
Suzuki projects to be the Cubs’ main right fielder, but can also get at-bats as a designated hitter (his main role last season when Kyle Tucker was in the fold). The DH duties this season will likely be split among multiple players, with Moisés Ballesteros a possibility to get the bulk of his playing time in that spot.
While left field (Ian Happ) and center field (Pete Crow-Armstrong) are locked in, Chicago has a mix of players who can bounce around all three spots and offer solutions for right field. Atop the list right now is Matt Shaw, who has been training for a super utility role this spring with a focus on the outfield.
Beyond Shaw, the Cubs have the veteran trio of Michael Conforto, Dylan Carlson and Chas McCormick in camp this spring as non-roster invitees. All three are very much in the competition for backup roles, even before the situation surrounding Suzuki is factored in.
The Cubs signed the 33-year-old Conforto earlier this spring, bringing in a player coming off a rough ’25 with the Dodgers, but with a longer track record of success. Carlson, 27, had a promising early-career showing, but has had trouble replicating that success in recent years. McCormick, 30, turned in a strong season in Houston in ’23 (130 OPS+), but struggled in ’24-25 amid injury issues.
The North Siders also have former Top 100 prospect and 23-year-old Kevin Alcántara (No. 4 on Pipeline’s Top 30 list for the Cubs) on the 40-man roster. While Alcántara is not ruled out for an Opening Day job, the team might prefer to have him playing regularly at Triple-A Iowa to begin this season, as opposed to filling a sporadic bench role.
Those are the scenarios in play as the Cubs gather more information on Suzuki’s injury.
“You never want to see your players come out of a game,” Counsell said. “And you know you’re not going to have all the information, so we’ve just got to wait. There’s nothing we can do but wait.”