It was three months ago that veteran left-hander Drew Smyly took a no-hitter into the eighth inning of a game against the vaunted Dodgers. But a 7.08 ERA in his last 10 outings has made it feel even longer ago than that.
Manager David Ross and the Cubs tried to stem the tide Saturday by using reliever Michael Fulmer as an opener, providing some lefty-on-lefty matchups for Smyly upon his entry, but it was to little avail. Smyly allowed five runs (one unearned because of his own fielding error) and fell an out shy of completing four innings.
In the wake of those results, Ross wasn’t willing to commit to how the Cubs will handle Smyly’s next turn in the rotation.
‘‘We’ll address that when its time comes,’’ said Ross, who had held off on announcing the Saturday/Sunday pitching plan against the Cardinals until Friday night. ‘‘It’ll be TBD again, I can promise you that.’’
A day off Monday allows the Cubs some flexibility to put off how they want to use Smyly next, although it comes before a stretch of 16 games in a row. Right-hander Hayden Wesneski throwing five scoreless innings Saturday for Triple-A Iowa serves as a reminder of an alternative option.
But this is a Cubs team that surely is receiving trade inquiries about All-Star right-hander Marcus Stroman and that re-signed Smyly in the offseason with belief in how his stuff projected.
‘‘He wants to start, I promise you that,’’ Ross said. ‘‘The track record coming over the last 10 starts, it hasn’t been the best version of him. But he’s capable of doing what he did at the beginning of the season, too.
‘‘Our pitching guys diving deep [say] a lot of his numbers are really good underneath the underlying stuff. Some of his metrics on pitches are still there or even better. Just got to get some results out of that.’’
What can you say about Bellinger?
While discussing cleanup man Cody Bellinger’s monster series against the Cardinals, Ross reached a point of exhaustion in the best way.
‘‘I don’t know what else to say,’’ Ross said, laughing. ‘‘He’s awesome. He’s great. He’s amazing. He plays multiple positions at a really high level.’’
But Ross did find an interesting detail, which was exemplified in Bellinger launching a two-run home run Sunday against Cardinals left-hander Jordan Montgomery.
Once treated as a platoon player, Bellinger is hitting .352/.408/.659 against left-handers and has hit half of his 14 home runs against them this season.
With an MVP in his pocket and most of his career spent in the national spotlight with the Dodgers, it’s easy to forget Bellinger is a 28-year-old still capable of improving facets of his game.
‘‘In the past, I haven’t had too much issue with [left-handers] when I feel good,’’ Bellinger said. ‘‘I’m just staying within myself.’’
Snag in Madrigal’s rehab
Infielder Nick Madrigal (strained right hamstring) was set to play designated hitter Sunday in his rehab assignment at Triple-A Iowa, but the Cubs said he was scratched for ‘‘general lower body fatigue’’ after starting at third base the previous two days.
There was no immediate word on what that means for plans for Madrigal to return to the majors Tuesday. But for a player returning from a strained hamstring, being sidelined by leg fatigue is a deviation from the plan.
