Cubs Suzuki to make season debut vs. Pirates after WBC injury

CHICAGO — Cubs right fielder Seiya Suzuki will make his season debut on Friday against the Pittsburgh Pirates after recovering from a knee injury suffered during the WBC, the team announced before the game.

Suzuki, 31, had career highs in home runs (32) and runs driven in (103) last season, helping the Cubs to the postseason for the first time since 2020. He was injured last month on a stolen base attempt while playing for Team Japan, leading to an early stay on the injured list.

“We’re putting one of our middle of the order bats back in the lineup,” manager Craig Counsell said Friday morning. “It’s a big addition, for sure.”

Suzuki is in the final year of a five-year, $85 million contract in which he has alternated between right field and DH. He’ll start in right on Friday but the team will be “somewhat cautious” with him coming off the knee injury, according to Counsell.

The team designated outfielder Dylan Carlson for assignment to make room for Suzuki on the roster. Carlson had only four at-bats over the first two weeks and lost out on a competition with Michael Conforto for that roster spot.

The Cubs also called up righty Ethan Roberts from Triple-A after placing reliever Phil Maton on the injured list with right knee tendinitis. Maton did not look sharp over his first few appearances, in part, because of the knee issue.

“It’s gradually gotten worse,” Counsell said. “We saw real effects from it in his last outing in Tampa. His velocity was down. It was just a case of not being able to sit into his back leg and drive off the mound.”

Maton gave up six runs over four innings before going down. He joins starter Cade Horton on the injured list as the latter awaits surgery on his elbow. The procedure will determine the length of his recovery which could be between 12-15 months.

President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said Friday he has no regrets on how they used Horton as the team took a conservative approach with him – though he still got hurt. Horton threw only 118 innings last season.

“We were really careful with his pitch counts,” Hoyer said. “We didn’t push him.”

That conservative approach applies to Horton’s entire career as a Cub. This will be his second operation on his elbow after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2021.

“You have to play, you have to pitch,” Hoyer said. “When I look back, I don’t have any regrets on how we handled him because we were so conservative. And he broke down. That’s the nature of pitching in 2026.”

Despite Horton’s loss, Cubs’ starters have the lowest ERA in the NL with righties Javier Assad and Colin Rea performing well in wins against the Rays earlier this week. Neither was in the rotation on Opening Day.

“This is why you have pitching depth,” Hoyer said.

Hoyer indicated the team is always considering outside options but said it’s “not top of mind” right now.