Cubs Cody Bellinger Seiya Suzuki may come off IL next week

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CHICAGO -- The Cubs are inching closer to getting two of their better hitters back from injury, manager Craig Counsell announced Saturday morning.

Outfielders Cody Bellinger (ribs) and Seiya Suzuki (oblique) could be back with the team as soon as next week.

"Belli is a little ahead of Suzuki," Counsell said before the Cubs hosted the Milwaukee Brewers. "We're going through baseball activities, making sure they feel good coming out of that and then progressing."

Suzuki, 29, has been out since mid-April after tweaking his oblique running to first base, while Bellinger, 28, has missed the past two weeks after colliding into a brick wall while tracking down a fly ball.

"What's the pain?" Counsell said of Bellinger's daily progress. "If it's nothing, just progress more."

The Cubs have struggled offensively without their two stars, averaging just under 3.5 runs per game since Bellinger's injury. Suzuki, in particular, was off to a great start to his season before going down. His OPS-plus of 152 was tops on the team -- but it's the second year in a row he has had an oblique ailment, so the Cubs will be cautious before he returns.

"He got hurt on the bases, so he'll need to do some running before he returns," Counsell said.

Chicago was hopeful minor league slugger Matt Mervis would help fill the void at the plate, but the Cubs sent him back down to Triple-A after he hit .115 in nine games.

"Matt struggled," Counsell said. "We're looking for production, and we just didn't get it. It's unfortunate."

The Cubs will continue to rotate players in and out of the designated hitter role. Infielder Patrick Wisdom will get a chance against Brewers right-hander Tobias Myers on Saturday. Usually, his playing time comes strictly against left-handed pitchers, but the Cubs are running out of options until their injured players return.

The Brewers added to their injured list Saturday. Outfielder Joey Wiemer is on the 10-day IL with left knee discomfort. Milwaukee also optioned right-hander Corbin Martin to Triple-A Nashville and called up infielder Andruw Monasterio and left-hander Jared Koenig.