Cubs pitcher breaks hand punching dugout wall after rough outing

The Cubs placed pitcher Colten Brewer on the injured list Sunday with a broken hand he suffered while punching a dugout wall during Chicago's loss the day before.

Brewer, a 31-year-old reliever, had been summoned to the mound Saturday to pitch the third inning after Kyle Hendricks was lifted from a start against the Los Angeles Angels. Brewer got just two outs and allowed three runs, one earned, while giving up two hits and two walks, as well as committing a throwing error and hitting a batter.

When the Cubs turned to reliever Jorge López to get the final out of the inning, Brewer took out his frustrations on the wall in Chicago's home dugout at Wrigley Field. The right-hander was said to have fractured his left hand.

"Just let a couple of punches into the wall," Brewer said Sunday (via Marquee Sports Network ). "My intention wasn't to break my hand."

Telling reporters there was "no excuse" for what he did, Brewer added that "emotions just get the best of us sometimes."

Brewer was placed on the 60-day IL and will sit out the next two months at a minimum. He is reportedly set to see a hand specialist this week.

"Letting my family down, friends, teammates, people of Wrigleyville — it's kind of heartbreaking to me right now," Brewer said. "There's no pain in it right now. I can't believe something like that happened."

In a corresponding move Sunday, the Cubs gave 26-year-old reliever Hunter Bigge his first major league call-up. A 13th-round draft pick in 2019, Bigge played three seasons at Harvard. In 11 appearances with the Cubs' Class AAA affiliate in Iowa this season, the hard-throwing righty notched an 0.77 ERA, 19 strikeouts, six walks and two hits allowed.

"I couldn't stop smiling for about 10 minutes and I couldn't stop crying for about 10 minutes," Bigge said Sunday of getting the news from his manager in Iowa. "I called my wife and my family and some of my friends. It's been a pretty crazy past 12 hours."

Brewer joins a list of pitchers injured in similarly self-inflicted ways that includes the Texas Rangers' Brock Burke, who returned last month following a two-month absence after he punched a door at Houston's Minute Maid Park. In 2022, the Astros' Phil Maton sat out the postseason after he punched his locker . As with Brewer, both Burke and Maton were reacting to rough outings.

"Colten, after he came out of the game, made a mistake, clearly out of frustration," Cubs Manager Craig Counsell said Sunday. "It's something that he regrets, clearly. It's something you don't want to have happen. It's unfortunate, and now the consequence is you're going to find yourself with a broken hand and on the injured list for quite a while."