Dansby Swanson headed to IL after hurting himself on a swing in Cubs 11-4 loss to the Cardinals

CHICAGO (AP) — Dansby Swanson appears headed to the injured list with a left oblique injury.

Swanson left the Chicago Cubs' 11-4 loss to St. Louis on Sunday after hurting himself when he swung and missed on the first pitch from Cardinals starter Hunter Dobbins in the third inning.

“It’s a left side, oblique range area,” manager Craig Counsell said. "We’ll do an MRI tomorrow. I think we can tell it's severe enough right now that it’s an injury list, but we’ll get better information tomorrow."

Swanson, a two-time Gold Glove winner at shortstop, seemed to twist awkwardly after swinging at a high fastball. He stepped outside the batter's box, talked briefly with Counsell and training staff, and exited to the dugout.

“My left side just kind of tightened up on me and obviously it was enough to where I did feel like I needed to keep going," Swanson said. ”I've really never been in a position like this before.

“Never have I had a soft tissue injury in my whole professional career,” Swanson added. “We’ll hopefully find out some really good news tomorrow and we’ll be on our way. We’ll understand tomorrow just kind of like the extent and plans for moving forward.”

Swanson was replaced in the at-bat by James Triantos, who went on to draw a walk. Triantos remained in the game at second base, with Nico Hoerner moving from second to short.

The 32-year-old Swanson, in his 11th season, had Saturday off as a routine maintenance day. He entered Sunday batting .216 with 18 home runs and 66 RBIs.

The two-time All-Star has played at shortstop in 117 of the Cubs' 125 games this season. Swanson entered Sunday with a .987 fielding percentage.

Hoerner, a two-time Gold Glove winner himself, figures to take over at shortstop with Swanson out. Pedro Ramirez would probably slot in at second.

“Obviously, Dansby has been an incredibly durable player and we have not needed to use it (switching Hoerner at shortstop) very much,” Counsell said. “This is something else Nico brings to the table and it's an important thing he brings to the table. And it's obviously going to be highlighted the next couple of weeks.”

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