(670 The Score) With an eye on the playoffs, the Cubs will activate left-hander Jose Quintana from the injured list and start him at the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday evening. It will mark Quintana’s first start of the season after he was sidelined by thumb surgery and most recently by lat inflammation.
Quintana has thrown just six innings across two relief appearances for the Cubs this season. Now, he’s trying to work his way back into a key role with only a week left in the regular season before the best-of-three wild-card round begins.
“I am healthy now,” Quintana said Monday. “My body feels really good, and I am excited to be back. I can’t wait to be a starter for the first time in 2020. This has been a tough season for me starting with my (tendon laceration and surgery). I have been really working hard to help my team the last week of the season.”
Quintana only threw 35 pitches in his most recent rehab outing. That’s nowhere close to a starter’s workload, but Quintana’s goal is nonetheless to be ready for playoff baseball and to contribute as much as possible.
“I just want to be ready to help,” he said. “I am first focusing on (Tuesday). I don’t know what is happening for me after that. I will be ready for any role they need me in. This is a really good moment to be back. I hope I can help win the division in the last week. This is a really important series for us.”
Quintana shared that he has had good command of all his pitches recently. Manager David Ross wants to slow-roll Quintana on Tuesday and see how he responds. The plan after that is to have Quintana – who's an impending free agent – start the Cubs’ regular-season finale at the White Sox on Sunday.
After that, the Cubs will decide what the best approach is for the wild-card round. Right-hander Kyle Hendricks and right-hander Yu Darvish project to lead the Cubs’ rotation in some order in any playoff series, but there’s uncertainty behind them.
Entering play Monday, the Cubs led the Cardinals by 3.5 games and the Reds and Brewers by 4.5 games in the NL Central race. Their magic number to clinch the division was six.
Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.