Seiya Suzuki's Knees Ready to Roar as Cubs Kick Off Season!
MESA, Ariz. — The Chicago Cubs might be without Seiya Suzuki to start the season, but they avoided a worst-case scenario for the right fielder’s injured right knee. An MRI showed Suzuki sprained the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) in the knee, manager Craig Counsell said Tuesday, and the Cubs will see how he progresses over the next couple of days before deciding Saturday whether he will be ready for opening day or needs a stint on the injured list.
Suzuki is not shut down from activity, and Counsell called the injury “minor in nature” and “good news for sure. ” “We’ve got to get the swelling out of there, that’s going to make him feel more comfortable,” Counsell said. “We don’t have to stop anything, and then we’ll just progress kind of things as tolerated.
… There’s nothing structural that he can’t play with. But he’s going to have to be comfortable with how he feels. “Now it’s just kind of move forward and the question is, is the first day of the season impacted or is it going to cost him a week of the season?
That’s what we’re trying to figure out and gather more information. ” Suzuki sustained the injury on a headfirst slide into second base during Japan’s World Baseball Classic quarterfinal loss to Venezuela on Saturday in Miami. He was examined by the team doctors for both Japan and the Miami Marlins before returning to Arizona, where the Cubs doctor also looked at him.
Suzuki underwent an MRI on Monday afternoon. Suzuki was in good spirits Tuesday, at one point wryly declaring he promised himself he won’t be doing any more headfirst slides. He’s going through treatment with a focus on reducing swelling and inflammation in the knee, which he said has felt better every day since Saturday.