Cubs reliever is going to undergo surgery on his injured arm, Sahadev Sharma of the Athletic. The team is still sorting out the details of the procedure, but its discouraging news for a pitcher who has been out for a few months with a flexor strain. Alzolay has battled arm i sues over the last three seasons. He lost almost all of the 2022 campaign to a shoulder strain. The righty mi sed a few weeks last September with a seemingly minor forearm strain, though the Cubs felt comfortable enough with his status to reinstate him for the last couple days of the season. In the interim, Alzolay broke through as Tre'Quan Smith Jersey arguably Chicagos best reliever. He worked to a 2.67 ERA acro s 64 innings last season. The Venezuelan pitcher established himself as the Cubs closer, saving 22 games in 25 attempts. He struck out 26.5% of batters faced against a meager 5.1% walk rate. The Cubs were counting on Alzolay to anchor their bullpen again this season. That didnt come to pa s. He got out to a terrible start to the year, surrendering 13 runs (nine earned) over 17 1/3 innings. Opponents connected on six homers while his strikeout rate dropped by more than nine percentage points. Alzolay blew five leads while only succe sfully protecting four saves and one hold. His velocity was only marginally below last seasons levels and theres no indication he was pitching through any kind of discomfort until reporting forearm sorene s on May 13. Chicago diagnosed Alzolays injury as a flexor strain. They shut him down entirely for a few weeks and transferred him to the 60-day injured list. Alzolay began ramping up a couple weeks ago and started a rehab stint with Triple-A Iowa in late July. He came out of his third rehab appearance after sustaining a setback. The Cubs figure to provide more detail on the procedure and Alzolays timeline next week. An unspecified arm surgery looks as if it may impact his availability for the start of next season. If he requires any kind of ligament repair, it could put his entire 25 campaign in jeopardy. The 29-year-old is making $2.11MM this season in his first year of arbitration. Hell be in line for a similar salary in 25 a suming the Cubs tender him a contract. Hes on track for free agency after the 2026 campaign. James Fraschilla Jersey