(670 The Score) Cubs shortstop Javier Baez will be kept out of the lineup for the second game when his team hosts the Phillies on Tuesday evening, manager Joe Maddon said.
Baez is dealing with a heel contusion, which he suffered on a defensive play Sunday. He sat out the Cubs' loss Monday, the first game he had missed after starting the team's first 44 contests. The Cubs have downpa
"He was still sore yesterday," Maddon said on the Laurence Holmes Show on Tuesday afternoon. "I just need to get a little more detail from the trainers today. But he's not awful by any means, but it's just something we really want to be careful with so it does not become prolonged. This guy's way too valuable to us over the course of an entire season to worry about one game in May."
Addison Russell is expected to start at shortstop for the second straight night in Baez's place.
Baez has been a force, hitting .319 with 11 homers, 31 RBIs and a .953 OPS. The Cubs haven't expressed much worry about his ailment but do want to scale back Baez's workload a bit, even when he's fully healthy.
"I've already had that conversation with him about taking him out of bad games," Maddon said. "I said, 'I just want to get you off your feet whenever I can.'"
