(670 The Score) As expected, Cubs closer Brandon Morrow will be sidelined to start the regular season as he rehabs from arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow in early November.
Morrow, 34, plans to begin throwing from 90 feet this week, then keep stretching himself out before getting back on the mound. Morrow missed the second half of 2018 with what the team at the time called a bone bruise in his biceps.
The Cubs had previously indicated that Morrow is expected to miss the first month or so of the regular season.
"I'm feeling really good right now," Morrow said, according to ESPN. "I wouldn't say I'd be ready for the beginning of the regular season. Right now, it's just feeling it out and seeing how I respond to throwing."
When healthy, Morrow was terrific for the Cubs, posting a 1.47 ERA and converting 22 of 24 save opportunities before being sidelined in mid-July. It was actually a June 2 game that president of baseball operations Theo Epstein pinpointed as a setback for Morrow, who was supposed to be unavailable that day but appeared in the bottom of the 14th after the Cubs had taken a 7-1 lead against the Mets with a six-run outburst in the top half. The team's victory marked Morrow's third straight day of work and fourth appearance in five days then.
The Cubs have already made plans for Morrow to not be used three days in a row in 2019.
Chicago opens the regular season at Texas on March 28.
