The Cubs had extensive conversations about right-hander Michael Soroka’s drop in velocity before acquiring him at the trade deadline, president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said Tuesday. They were well aware of his injury history.
‘‘Given the market and given the asking price and given all those different things, we felt like it was a good bet to make,’’ Hoyer said before the second game of the series against the Reds at Wrigley Field. ‘‘Came out of the game [Monday] night, and right now it’s not looking like a good bet. But that’s our job. We make bets on these things.’’
The Cubs put Soroka on the 15-day injured list with a strained right shoulder. Manager Craig Counsell had predicted the move after Soroka left two innings into his Cubs debut Monday. In a corresponding move, the Cubs recalled reliever Nate Pearson from Triple-A Iowa.
After the Cubs’ 5-1 loss to the Reds, Counsell said imaging on Soroka showed a low- to mid-grade shoulder strain. The Cubs plan to shut him down for seven to 10 days, then reevaluate him.
‘‘Obviously disappointed,’’ Hoyer said before the game. ‘‘We did a lot of due diligence, a ton of research. And if it doesn’t work out, that’s on me. That’s the job.’’
Soroka, who also was looking for answers about his dip in velocity, had an MRI exam before his last start with the Nationals to rule out any potential injury, he said.
He and the Nationals were satisfied enough with the results to have him pitch last week against the Astros. The Cubs were also ‘‘comfortable enough,’’ as Hoyer put it, to move forward with the deal the next day.
Soroka’s robust injury history includes IL stints for injuries to his right shoulder in each of the last two seasons.
‘‘He’s a really good pitcher,’’ Hoyer said. ‘‘Tried to sign him this offseason. We’ve watched him a lot of years. There’s real upside in Mike and a lot of different development opportunities to make him even better.’’
The Cubs envisioned Soroka in a swingman role, hoping that he could move to the bullpen when right-hander Jameson Taillon (strained right calf) returned from the IL this month. So they weren’t necessarily expecting him to shoulder a starter’s workload.
Still, he was the only starting-pitching depth the Cubs acquired at the trade deadline, despite Hoyer striking up talks about a wide range of starting pitchers.