Jose Lobaton lands on the 60-day IL with right shoulder sprainon June 30, 2021 at 7:07 pm

MILWAUKEE — Another day, another injury to a Cubs backup catcher.

This time, it’s catcher Jose Lobaton who has landed on the 60-day injured list with a right shoulder sprain. Lobaton injured the shoulder on the last play of Tuesday’s 2-1 loss as he tried to avoid colliding with Brewers closer Josh Hader and fell on the shoulder as he stumbled.

The Cubs selected catcher Taylor Gushue from Triple-A Iowa to take Lobaton’s place on the roster. The 27-year-old catcher will be appearing in the big leagues for the first time and was slashing .272/.328/.440 with five homers this season.

Gushue becomes the fifth backup catcher the Cubs have used this season with Austin Romine (left wrist sprain), Tony Wolters, P.J. Higgins (right flexor strain/partially torn UCL) and Lobaton.

“You see a guy go down like that and then get out there and see the facial expressions and emotions, it’s just tough,” manager David Ross said. “It is like a pretty, pretty severe sprain. He was in some real pain. Hopefully, it’s a speedy recovery for him and gets back to help us out later.

“Me and Willson were walking off the field with [Lobaton] hurt shaking our heads and kind of like, another backup catcher [injury]. Just a position that we’re short in. Injuries, adversity, these are things that come up during the season that you have to try to overcome. It stinks for the guys to get hurt.”

Hoerner could return this weekend

While the Cubs have not had the best luck with injuries recently, they may be close to getting second baseman Nico Hoerner back. Hoerner has been on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Iowa and gone 2-for-5 during his stint.

Ross didn’t shoot down the notion that Hoerner could be back with the Cubs this weekend in Cincinnati.

“I think it’s a possibility,” Ross said. “We’ll see. All good signs, but the more and more guys go down, the more it’s a possibility.”

Davis, Rodriguez selected for Futures Game

Cubs top prospect Brennen Davis was selected to play in this year’s Futures Game at the MLB All-Star game. Davis, who was recently promoted to Double-A, is the Cubs highest-ranked position player prospect and the No. 45 prospect in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline. He’s slashing .255/.368/.396 with three home runs this season.

Right-hander Manny Rodriguez was also selected to play in the game. The fireballing right-hander was promoted to Triple-A Iowa on Sunday and has a 2.03 ERA in 13 games this season.

“It’s just super positive,” Ross said. “Manny’s been through a lot in particular, some ups and downs. The injuries. Just got promoted. He’s starting to throw the ball well and just got promoted. Really good for him.

“Brennen is having a great season. First time I got to really see him play in person in spring training. The athleticism, the ability to go get the ball and run the bases. The physique continues to develop at such a young age. I think it’s just super positive to be around that environment of the Futures game.”

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