Pete Crow-Armstrong out of Chicago Cubs lineup Monday with a bruised right knee and RHP Ben Brown recalled
Entering Monday's series opener against the Kansas City Royals, Crow-Armstrong had started all but one game for the Cubs this season as the 23-year-old All-Star became a staple in the middle of their order.
His ability to play every day while delivering elite defense and taking his offensive production to another level this year has been valuable. However, a bruised right knee kept Crow-Armstrong out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Royals.
Manager Craig Counsell described Crow-Armstrong as day-to-day and hopes he is back in the lineup Tuesday. The knee felt a little swollen after Crow-Armstrong woke up Monday, Counsell said, so they wanted to give him the day off. It's not exactly certain when he banged it up during Sunday's game against Boston, but, looking at replays, Counsell believes it likely happened during the rundown in the second inning when he awkwardly slid into third base.
Crow-Armstrong was tagged out by Red Sox pitcher Garrett Crochet, after which he and Counsell argued that Crochet obstructed the base on the sequence.
'It's why it was a blocking-the-bag situation because the slide was clearly altered,' Counsell said Monday. 'If you watch the slide and replay, it's not a normal-looking slide, and further reason that was blocking the bag.'
Seiya Suzuki made his first career start in center field Monday night with Crow-Armstrong sidelined. Counsell opted to go with Suzuki at the position rather than Ian Happ, who has played 240 big-league games in center field, including 199 starts, though none since 2022 (three games, 12 innings). Both players got limited game reps in center field during spring training.
'This is not a scenario we want to consider a lot, obviously, just because we want Pete in there,' Counsell said. 'In the end, just leaving Ian where he's at and just putting Seiya out there — Seiya has been running around there a little bit during (batting) practices and stuff like that.'
The Cubs opted for an opener Monday with reliever Ryan Brasier getting the start. Right-hander Ben Brown was recalled before the game, giving the Cubs a multi-inning option to follow Brasier. The Cubs optioned reliever Ethan Roberts.
The Cubs sent Brown to Triple-A Iowa last month to give him a reset and a break in his workload to help manage his innings. Brown made two starts with Iowa and allowed one run over nine innings.
'He pitched very well, very efficient in both outings, did exactly what he wanted to do,' Counsell said. 'There's not a new pitch, there's nothing new happening there. He's got to execute better, it's as simple as that.'
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