Seiya Suzuki Advances to Normal BP, Kyle Hendricks Still 3 Bullpens Away from Live BP

David Ross told reporters on Wednesday that right fielder Seiya Suzuki will progress to normal BP after working through dry swings and soft toss. The manager also said Suzuki will “touch the pillows,” or run the bases, though he won’t be going at full speed. At this point, it appears Suzuki will stay back in Arizona to get more work with the minor leaguers before possibly working through a rehab assignment.

Kyle Hendricks will likewise be in Mesa for a while because he said Wednesday morning that he still has three bullpens to throw before moving on to live BP. Even if he conducts the first of those today, and assuming four days of rest between each, he’s looking at around April 11 for that BP session. That would put his return to the Cubs at early May under the best possible circumstances.

https://twitter.com/MLBastian/status/1638592080347033600?s=20

A more realistic target is probably mid-May to June, as Hendricks will need multiple BP sessions and a few rehab starts in the minors to build back up. As much as I’d like to see him come back and be effective, I remain very skeptical of his ability to do either. Hendricks had serious performance issues over the last two seasons and how he’s working around the kind of shoulder injury that doesn’t just go away.