Cubs' Jordan Wicks: Cleared for rehab assignment
Wicks (oblique) is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment Saturday with Triple-A Iowa, Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune reports.
Wicks' upcoming appearance with Iowa will be his first since mid-June, when he suffered a Grade 2 right oblique strain in a start against the Cardinals. Given the length of Wicks' absence, he'll likely need at least a couple of rehab outings beyond Saturday's to get fully stretched out, assuming the Cubs still want to keep him in play as an option for the rotation. Though Kyle Hendricks has shown improvement since re-entering the rotation when Wicks went down with the injury, Hendricks is still sporting a 5.05 ERA over his nine starts since mid-June and wouldn't seem to have much security as the club's No. 5 starter.
