Kyle Farnsworth spoke optimistically over the weekend about the condition of his right foot. He figured he would be able to return in the next 10 days.
“My arm feels real good right now,” he said.
But his stress fracture still has not healed fully, and the Cubs have pushed back his projected return date to June 7.
Even though Farnsworth threw off a mound Tuesday for the first time since April 10, the day he broke a bone in his foot while warming up in the bullpen, manager Don Baylor sounded concerned about his condition.
“We’re shooting for June 7, but I don’t know how realistic it is,” he said.
Farnsworth had figured that once he got back on the mound he would need only a few side sessions before being activated from the disabled list.
But Baylor said Farnsworth will need to go on a minor-league rehab assignment because he has pitched just 10 2/3 innings this season, and 9 1/3 of those came in spring training.
“He’s not going to go from the disabled list to the active roster,” Baylor said.
Joe Borowski has emerged as the Cubs’ top right-handed setup man in Farnsworth’s absence. While Borowski has excelled, fellow right-hander Scott Chiasson has had a miserable time, allowing 12 runs in 4 2/3 innings.
Chiasson was optioned to Triple-A Iowa after Wednesday’s game to clear a roster spot for Mark Prior.
Great expectations: On the eve of Prior’s major-league debt, Kerry Wood was asked if he had given him any advice.
“Pitch a shutout and go 2-for-3,” Wood replied.
Baylor said he had posed only one question to Prior.
“I asked him if he knows the `bunt’ sign,” he said. “I know he knows the `hit’ sign.”
Prior went through a light workout Tuesday at Wrigley Field. He threw briefly off the mound “so it wouldn’t be foreign to him once he walked out [Wednesday],” Baylor said.
Joe Girardi will catch him.
Although Prior never threw more than 111 pitches during any of his nine minor-league starts, Baylor said his pitch count would be 115-120.
Prior should be fresh after throwing just 80 pitches in his last start for Triple-A Iowa Friday night in New Orleans.
Asked if he expects Prior to struggle under the weight of lofty expectations, Baylor said, “I’m pretty sure he has had that before at a different level. The real good young ones, like [Roger] Clemens, [want] that responsibility.”
Better injury news: Baylor expects shortstop Alex Gonzalez to return to the lineup Saturday in Houston. Gonzalez has made good progress after straining his left hamstring May 9.
Todd Hundley, who has been taking batting practice at extended spring training in Mesa, Ariz., should be back in about a week after a short rehab stint, likely at Triple-A Iowa.
Closer Tom Gordon is slated to throw off a mound May 27 for the first time since tearing a muscle near his right shoulder in March.
Heating up: First-base prospect Hee Seop Choi homered and drove in five runs Monday in Iowa’s 10-5 victory over Fresno. In his last seven games Choi has hit .318 with three homers.
Nothing major: Moises Alou had to leave Game 1 after making a diving attempt on a Brian Giles line drive. Alou crashed into the padding along the left-field wall, bruising both his left shoulder and right hip.
“There’s no dislocation, so that’s a positive,” Baylor said. “We’re going to look at it and see if he can play [Wednesday].”
Giles motored around the bases for an inside-the-park home run.
Diamond in rough: The Chicago Park District and Cubs Care broke ground Tuesday on the city’s first wheelchair softball field.
The field, located at the corners of California Boulevard and Irving Park Road, is expected to open by August.
