Chicago Cubs reliever Ethan Roberts goes on the IL after a freak workout accident: ‘It’s bad timing’

PHILADELPHIA — Ethan Roberts wryly glanced at his bandaged finger and rued his bad luck. A freak accident, as the 28-year-old reliever went through his typical pregame routine before Monday’s series opener against the Philadelphia Phillies, resulted in a laceration on the pad of his right middle finger. The Chicago Cubs, already dealing with a depleted pitching staff , put Roberts on the 15-day injured list Tuesday.

Left-handers Ryan Rolison and Luke Little — the Cubs’ only healthy arms in the minors on their 40-man roster — were recalled from Triple-A Iowa. Left-hander Charlie Barnes was optioned to Iowa after throwing three innings in Monday’s loss to the Phillies. Roberts was on the ninth of his 10 reps when the medicine ball knocked the exhaust vent off the wall behind him in the hallway outside the visiting clubhouse’s weight room.

As the vent started to fall toward his leg, Roberts reached back to try to stop it, and the metal cut a chunk of his skin from his finger pad. Roberts put Dermabond adhesive over the wound so he could throw to test his finger. Within eight pitches on flat ground, the baseball had completely ripped away the Dermabond, causing the cut to bleed again.

Roberts tried to talk the Cubs into letting him put more adhesive on his finger and try again. But they shut down Roberts from another attempt and ultimately determined he needed to go on the IL. “Of course it happens to us because everything is happening to us right now,” Roberts said.