Suzuki placed on 10-day IL with right oblique strain

PHOENIX -- It was just about the ultimate routine play. In his final at-bat of Sunday’s win over the Mariners, Seiya Suzuki shot a grounder to third and then chugged down the line. But then, he uncharacteristically began to slow. While he ran -- but not during his swing, the Cubs outfielder says -- “there was some sudden discomfort.”

Monday afternoon, that sudden discomfort turned into a stint on the 10-day injured list with a right oblique strain, depriving Chicago of a No. 2 hitter who is batting .305/.368/.525 with three home runs in 15 games this year. The team called up rookie outfielder Alexander Canario in Suzuki’s place, but Chicago’s offensive firepower will be undeniably diminished while Suzuki is on the shelf.

“You don’t replace players like that,” said Cubs manager Craig Counsell. “We’re going to have to have guys while he’s out pick it up around him and collectively perform at a good level around him. But you don’t replace players who perform at that level with one person.”

The bad news for the Cubs is that this is the second oblique injury Suzuki has suffered in as many years. Last year, the outfielder strained his left oblique on an early spring swing and missed six weeks, including the first two weeks of the regular season. The following offseason, Suzuki said, he trained to try to prevent future oblique injuries from taking him off the field.

That makes the new injury all the more frustrating -- “It’s not common running and pulling an oblique,” Counsell noted -- but Suzuki sees a silver lining. The injury is both on the opposite side as last year’s, and though his medical scans have yet to be fully interpreted by team doctors, the 29-year-old is confident that it’s less severe than it was a year ago.

“I do feel some discomfort still,” Suzuki said through interpreter Toy Matsushita. “But it’s not as serious as last year’s, so that’s a bright spot.”

It’s not clear how much time Suzuki will miss, but the Cubs hope Canario will be a bright spot as well in the veteran’s absence. The team’s No. 10 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, Canario was hitting .269/.377/.481 in 13 games with Triple-A Iowa. Canario earned a cup of coffee late last season, hitting his first big-league home run but also striking out eight times in 17 plate appearances. He was in the roster mix late into Spring Training this year but found himself on the outside of a crowded outfield picture.

Without Suzuki, that mix changes significantly. The only other full-time outfielders on the team are Ian Happ, Cody Bellinger and Mike Tauchman, the last two of whom bat left-handed. As a righty swinger -- albeit one who has performed better against righties than lefties in the Minors the last two years -- Canario could factor into the mix when the Cubs face left-handed pitchers.

Counsell said Monday he hasn’t thought that far ahead. “Day to day, that will be determined,” the manager said when asked about Canario’s potential playing time. Canario didn’t have a much clearer idea of what to expect, either.

“[Counsell] just told me to stay ready, stay ready to play,” Canario said via interpreter Fredy Quevedo Jr. “So that’s what I’m going to do.”

With all three of Chicago’s established outfielders starting slow, the Cubs would love for Canario to hit the ground running until Suzuki returns. In the meantime, Suzuki may be taking on another project -- determining how to hit the ground running without tweaking his oblique.

“It’s really important to look over everything and see if there’s any problems with how I run, how I swing and how my body moves,” Suzuki said. “I think there are some areas where I need to improve.”