MILWAUKEE — Yes, another Cubs pitcher has landed on the injured list.
An avalanche of pitching injuries keeps burying the team, which put right-handed reliever Phil Maton on the IL with tendinitis in his right knee Friday. It’s his second knee-related trip to the IL this season.
‘‘The first time, we gave him some time off,’’ manager Craig Counsell said. ‘‘I think we made some progress. But we’re kind of getting back into the same territory again. We really need Phil to get going here. I think we’re getting closer, but we also feel like we’re taking some steps back with the health.
‘‘If we can maybe use this time — and possibly the All-Star break — to get his health as good as we can get him for the second half, that’s important. Because we need a good version of Phil Maton.’’
This blow might not hit the same as the recent barrage of injuries in the rotation has. But the Cubs signed Maton to a two-year deal as a free agent in the offseason to be an important piece of their late-inning puzzle.
Things haven’t worked out so well on that front, with Maton struggling to a 6.08 ERA.
There had been recent improvement, however. Maton had allowed only two runs in his previous dozen appearances entering the just-completed series against the Mets.
‘‘We’re getting there,’’ Maton told the Sun-Times on Monday. ‘‘But it’s one of those things where it’s, ‘That’s great, but you’ve got to go out and get the results now and put up some zeros.’ That’s what I’m looking forward to doing.’’
But Maton didn’t have a great series in New York, allowing a run in each of his two outings, both coming on solo home runs. He walked a batter and hit another.
Frustrated fans might be relieved to get a break from seeing the struggling Maton inserted into high-leverage situations, but the Cubs’ pitching staff can’t afford any more subtractions.
The rotation has been the most affected by injuries, but the bullpen hasn’t been immune, and Maton joins closer Daniel Palencia on the shelf. That makes Counsell’s juggling act in the late innings that much more difficult.
Suzuki beats ‘The Miz’
Outfielder Seiya Suzuki has been forced into designated-hitter duty while he deals with nagging knee discomfort, but he was feeling well enough to take one of the best pitchers in baseball deep Friday.
Suzuki struck for one of the Cubs’ two hits against National League Cy Young candidate Jacob Misiorowski in their 6-2 loss to the Brewers, launching a leadoff home run in the fifth inning.
Though the Cubs managed to draw four walks against him, Misiorowski dazzled in his typical fashion, hitting ungodly numbers on the radar gun, including a first-inning pitch at 105.5 mph to Pete Crow-Armstrong.
‘‘The fastball’s incredible; it’s electric,’’ said Cubs starter Colin Rea, who yielded one run and five hits in five-plus innings. ‘‘It’s stuff you’ve never seen before.’’
Taillon tracking well
In a rare bit of good news on the pitching front, right-hander Jameson Taillon, who is working his way back from a hamstring injury, might get back into big-league games before the All-Star break.
‘‘I’m making really, really exciting progress,’’ Taillon told the Sun-Times on Wednesday.
Counsell said that if Taillon, who initially was estimated to be sidelined until after the break, returns before then, it only would be for one short start and that longer outings would come after the break.
