Maddon hopes Yu can relax
At least Yu Darvish knows what’s wrong. For Cubs manager Joe Mad
don, that’s a good thing. After a second opinion that followed a bullpen session in Los Angeles that didn’t go well, Darvish was diagnosed with an impingement and inflammation in his right elbow. On the disabled list since May 23, Darvish received a cortisone shot and will be re- evaluated in the next few days.
Maddon said it’s important for Darvish to know what he’s dealing with.
“Hopefully this relaxes his mind a little bit also, moving forward,” Maddon said. “Whenever you define a situation, it always helps the human being deal with it better, I think. More definition. I haven’t spoken with him yet directly, so once I do I’ll know better. I always believe in, once you get whatever is bothering you defined, it normally does help.”
Hot town, summer in the city
Twins outfielders Eddie Rosario and Max Kepler and catcher Bobby
Wilson left with heat- related ailments. Wilson caught the fifth inning, walked to lead off the sixth and scored before exiting in the middle of the inning.
“I just couldn’t catch my breath. My heart was fluttering. I felt dizzy,” Wilson said. “Started getting a headache. Just felt like a long time out there and trying to rush out to the box to get a hit and of course having that at- bat and tagging from first and tagging from second and tagging from third.
“Just couldn’t even hold a conversation in the dugout. They just wanted me to get looked at. Saw the doctors. One of those days. Hot, long innings. That’s never happened to me before.”
The DL report
Maddon said Kris Bryant, on the DL with inflammation in his left shoulder, is “doing well” and “still on target.” Bryant could return when he’s eligible Tuesday or maybe Wednesday.
“We’re not 100 percent sure, but everything’s going in the right direction,” Maddon said. “There’d be no sense in pushing it if he’s not 100 percent ready, but there’s a chance that he will be.”
Carl Edwards Jr. ( right shoulder inflammation) threw 19 pitches in two- thirds of an inning Friday for Class AAA Iowa. Maddon said his velocity was normal and the Cubs wanted him to be around 20 pitches. Maddon also said Edwards should be fine to pitch again Sunday or Monday.
Albert ahead
Albert Almora Jr. hit .363 in June, raising his overall average to .332, which was tops in the National League when he left the game Saturday with leg cramps. ( The Reds’ Scooter Gen-
nett later tied him with a 3- for- 4 game.) Almora, who didn’t sound concerned about his health, took the news he was leading the NL in stride.
“You can go and sit back and acknowledge what you’re doing in the game, but at the end of the day, tomorrow’s a new day and that’s it,” Almora said. “You can be like, ‘ Oh, that’s a pretty cool thing to happen to me right now,’ but tomorrow’s a brand- new game and you’ve got to think about the pitcher you’re facing.”