Cubs’ Javier Assad Sidelined for Season Start with Oblique Injury

Chicago Cubs right-hander Javier Assad will miss the opening of the 2025 season due to oblique soreness that has hampered him throughout spring training. According to Bruce Levine of 670 The Score, Assad won’t recover in time for the team’s Tokyo Series on March 18 or their stateside opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks on March 27. As a result, the Cubs are likely to place the 27-year-old on the injured list to begin the year, sidelining him through at least early April and forcing the team to adjust their pitching plans without one of their versatile arms.
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Assad has been a quietly effective presence in the Cubs’ pitching staff over his three MLB seasons, despite metrics that suggest his success might be unsustainable. Serving as a swingman in 2022 and 2023, he compiled an impressive 3.06 ERA (139 ERA+) across 147 innings in 41 outings, including 18 starts. However, his peripheral stats tell a less flattering story: a 9.9% walk rate, a modest 20.2% strikeout rate, and a respectable but unspectacular 44.7% groundball rate. These figures contributed to a 4.34 FIP and 4.59 SIERA, hinting that Assad’s surface-level excellence may have outpaced his underlying skill set, a dynamic the Cubs will hope he can refine once he returns from injury.