Milton Bradley Hurts Himself in Cubs Debut: Fans Not Surprised

In January, the Cubs signed outfielder Milton Bradley to a three-year, $30 million deal to be the new right fielder. The Cubs knew of his injury history, but Bradley's impressive stats were enough to take the risk that he would be able to avoid injury. 

It lasted one spring at bat.

Bradley took himself out of Thursday's game after he drew a walk in the first inning because of mild tightness in his left quad.

"I didn't do too much in the game, I felt it before when warming up, so I let them know it felt tighter than it should have been," Bradley said. "Since we have a quarter of a season worth of games in spring training, I felt the best course of action was to let them know right now. If it's April 6, I play."

So it appears the injury is nothing serious, but Bradley is just being overly cautious and trying to avoid further injury. He expects to return to the lineup this weekend against the White Sox.

However, this does bring up one important question for Cubs fans: Bradley said that if today was opening day, he would have played through the pain. So does this mean Bradley will be playing hurt for most of the year? 

Is he not going to tell the training staff about certain bumps and bruises? 

Will this affect his defense?

If you're a true Cubs fan, this news doesn't faze you, since it was always a matter of when Bradley would get hurt, not if. However, if you're like me, you probably expected it to be on a chilly April day in the Friendly Confines, not in sunny Mesa, Arizona. 

Adam Dunn might strike out a lot, but he's never played less than 152 games in a full season. Oh, and he's hit 40-plus homers for six straight years. 

Here's to praying Bradley plays more than half the games this season.