Duffy steps up rehab work after back injury

LOS ANGELES -- The Cubs have been without utility player Matt Duffy since late May because of a lower back injury, but the 30-year-old could return in the next couple of weeks. Duffy has resumed baseball activities and said he “feels better than before” he landed on the 10-day injured list.

Duffy said his progress over the next week will be the biggest determination of his recovery. Friday marked the first time Duffy threw in more than a month.

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"I've been swinging inside, just dry swings after doing [medicine] ball tosses, and that's all gone really well," Duffy said. "It just depends on adding activity. I think we're going to do some rolling ground balls tomorrow barehanded, just to get my feet going."

Duffy said a bulging disc bothered him when he hit against St. Louis on May 22. He has experienced back pain in the past, but not to this extent.

“Whenever I do get this, it's usually like bending over that is bothersome, it's not twisting,” Duffy said. “The hard part about this one was bending over was fine, the twisting which hurt. I can get away with limiting bending over if it's bothering me, I can take less ground balls in pregame and maybe get three ground balls in the game and that's a medium-sized workload, but twisting is everything.”

Duffy batted .278 in 90 at-bats before the injury.

Hoerner headed to rehab stint
Infielder Nico Hoerner is scheduled to start his rehab assignment with Triple-A Iowa on Sunday. Hoerner traveled with the big league team to Los Angeles to continue his rehab process with the trainers.

Hoerner suffered a left hamstring strain that has sidelined him since late May. He has progressed rapidly over the past week as baseball activities have increased.