Kohl Stewart will Begin for the Chicago Cubs in series opener vs. San Diego Padres, while Anthony Rizzo (back) is out of the lineup for 6th consecutive game

The Chicago Cubs' thickness is still analyzed.

Kohl Stewart will Begin for the Chicago Cubs in series opener vs. San Diego Padres, while Anthony Rizzo (back) is out of the lineup for 6th consecutive game

This time it's right-hander Kohl Stewart who has to show what he could do to your company. Implementing a starter for Monday's series opener against the San Diego Padres, the Cubs encouraged the 26-year-old from Triple-A Iowa.

Stewart replaces right-hander Trevor Williams, who went to the injured list after an appendectomy. The Cubs should get a clearer idea of how long Williams will be sidelined following his followup appointment Tuesday.

Stewart signed a free-agent deal with the Cubs from the offseason. He has appeared in 17 big-league games, including six starts, with the Minnesota Twins in 2018-19. Stewart became the decision to begin Monday because he's satisfactorily stretched out and ought to help prevent taxing the bullpen. He has pitched five or more innings in each of his four begins with Iowa this year.

"It created a great deal of sense. He has been pitching pretty good down there from what I noticed," Cubs director David Ross stated. "I didn't check these numbers but I feel a starter that is stretched out and will provide us multiple innings produced the most sense for where we are at."

Anthony Rizzo (rear ) wasn't in the lineup for a sixth successive game. He fielded ground balls pregame and took batting practice, which included launching a few home runs into the bleachers. Ross expects Rizzo could be back in the lineup Tuesday but would not commit to this. Jason Heyward (hamstring) and Jake Marisnick (hamstring) also engaged in BP. Heyward analyzed his hamstring running the bases prior to the match, while Marisnick did agility function in the outfield.

Ross stated Heyward and Marisnick seem to be quite close to returning.

"We are on the point of getting some guys healthy, that's the fantastic news on the rear end of some bad news," Ross stated.