Chicago Cubs place OF Cody Bellinger on the paternity list

Published Apr. 25, 2023 6:57 p.m. ET

Associated Press

CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Cubs placed outfielder Cody Bellinger on the paternity list on Tuesday.

Bellinger and his girlfriend welcomed their second child on Sunday, a baby girl.

The 27-year-old Bellinger is off to a strong start in his first year with Chicago, batting .300 with five homers and 15 RBIs in 21 games. The 2019 NL MVP finalized a $17.5 million, one-year contract with the Cubs in December.

The Cubs also recalled outfielder Nelson Velázquez from Triple-A Iowa. He was in the starting lineup for the opener of a three-game series against San Diego.

The team also announced that right-hander Kyle Hendricks will make a rehab start with Iowa on Thursday. Hendricks is coming back from a right shoulder strain. He hasn't pitched in a big league game since July 5.

Hendricks is known more for his command and deception, but Cubs manager David Ross said he has been throwing the ball a little harder during his comeback.

“He's touched 90 a couple times, which is something he wanted to work on in this downtime in building back up,” Ross said. “There was a real sense of kind of a working towards a little bit of a velocity increase, and he's felt great about that.”

Ross was noncommittal when asked how many rehab starts Hendricks would make before returning to the majors. He is expected to be around four innings and 60 pitches on Thursday.

“We'll see how it goes from there,” Ross said. “I'd like to get him multiple starts, but there's a lot of variables in that that can also change.”

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