Chipper Jones’ knee isn’t getting any better

Ken Rosenthal reports that Chipper Jones’ knee is “getting more bothersome” and isn’t responding well to treatment.

Jones has been playing through it to varying results. He had a rough June. He’s hitting a bit better in July so far and has a six-game hitting streak going — but he’s Chipper, and his body doesn’t have a history of simply snapping back into shape.

The Braves are said to be looking for a bat. If Jones is gone it wouldn’t necessarily mean they’d need an infield bat, however, because Martin Prado is going to back shortly and he is a better third baseman than Jones is. They could slide Prado to third if it comes to that and look for a left fielder. Or they could just be content with Nate McLouth out there, but eventually he and Jordan Schafer in the same outfield is gonna be a problem.

Bad news for the Cubs’ Yu Darvish: The right-hander is headed back to the disabled list with right triceps tendinitis, the team announced Saturday. It’s the second such assignment for Darvish this season, but the first time he’s been sidelined with arm issues. Neither the severity of his injury nor a concrete timeframe for his recovery has been revealed yet, but the move is retroactive to May 23 and will allow him to come off the DL by June 2, assuming all goes well.

Prior to the injury, Darvish went 1-3 in eight starts with a 4.95 ERA, 4.7 BB/9 and 11.0 SO/9 through 40 innings. Needless to say, these aren’t the kind of results the Cubs were hoping to see after inking the righty to a six-year, $126 million contract back in February, though the circumstances affecting his performances appear to have largely been out of his control. He missed a start in early May after coming down with the flu and has struggled to pitch beyond the fifth inning in five of his eight starts to date.

The Cubs recalled left-hander Randy Rosario from Triple-A Iowa in a corresponding move. Rosario has yet to amass more than five career innings in the majors, but has impressed at Triple-A so far this year: he maintained an 0.97 ERA, 2.8 BB/9 and 6.1 SO/9 through 19 1/3 innings in 2018. As for Darvish’s next scheduled turn in the rotation, Tyler Chatwood is lined up to take the mound when the Cubs face off against the Giants in the series finale on Sunday. A starter for Monday night’s game has yet to be determined.