Top Cubs prospect Alzolay out for year

A perfect start turned out to be the last one this season for Adbert Alzolay.
The top Cubs prospect will miss the remainder of the 2018 campaign with a strained lat muscle, an injury suffered in his last outing on May 29. Alzolay was in the midst of his best performance of the year for Triple-A Iowa, throwing four perfect innings and striking out three before being removed with what was described at the time as "right lat tightness."

Entering that start against New Orleans, Alzolay had allowed at least three earned runs in four straight outings and had given up 17 runs over 18 2/3 innings, pushing his ERA from 2.12 to 5.30. I-Cubs manager Marty Pevey blamed the injury partly on the fact that the 23-year-old right-hander had been falling behind hitters and relying more on his fastball, which he was elevating, as a result.
"Anytime you elevate, especially in hitters' counts, you've got a chance to get hurt," he said.

Alzolay had a 4.76 ERA and 27-13 strikeout-to-walk ratio in eight starts after posting a 2.99 ERA with 108 strikeouts and 34 walks in 22 starts for Class A Advanced Carolina and Double-A Tennessee in 2017. Despite his recent struggles and the season-ending injury, the organization remains confident in the long-term outlook for the 6-foot, 179-pound Venezuela native.
"It's a setback for 2018, but we don't see it as a setback for his career," Cubs executive vice president and general manager Jed Hoyer told MLB.com. "We love the makeup, love the stuff. We think he'll help us a lot in the future."