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Cabrera won’t be back this weekend, but he will still be eligible for the NL Wild Card series.

Cabrera came in during the seventh with the Cubs down 4-3 and eventually gave up a two-run homer to Drake Baldwin in the ninth. But that’s pretty much par for the course here. There’s hope that Cabrera will be of use to the Cubs as a reliever in October, but he’s probably not the answer in the closer’s role.

Cabrera will operate out of Chicago’s bullpen for the rest of the season. His stuff should play up in shorter relief stints, and he could emerge as an important weapon over the final two weeks. It’s not out of the question that he could factor into the Cubs’ closing mix with Jacob Webb struggling recently, though that’s far from a guarantee considering Cabrera has never really pitched in relief before. He’s the type of talent who could thrive out of the bullpen if he manages to stay healthy.

The Cubs have said that they intend to bring Cabrera back in a relief role, so it was interesting to see that the right-hander ramped up his velocity to 99.3 mph on his four-seamer and touched 100 a few times. He threw 71 percent of his pitches for strikes and posted a 19 percent swinging strike rate while striking out one and not walking a single batter. He threw 21 pitches in this one and might only need one more rehab appearance (if at all) if the Cubs are truly planning to use him as a reliever. Given the state of their bullpen, there’s even a chance he could push for save opportunities.

Cabrera has battled through numerous injuries during his Chicago debut. He’s likely to miss a couple weeks with a finger blister that cropped up while he was getting torched for seven runs over 3 2/3 innings against the Cardinals over the weekend. He’s basically off fantasy radar screens at this point with just a few weeks left in the season. It sounds like he’s headed to the bullpen one he’s back from the injured list.

Cubs fans would probably prefer he didn’t. Cabrera, who missed time back in May with a blister, is due to face the Mariners next weekend, but the team has flexibility after the off day Thursday.

Cabrera was ineffective from the jump, allowing six hits and issuing three walks against two strikeouts before being pulled. It’s worth noting that it was his first start after being activated off the injured list because of his hamstring strain, but Cabrera has not been a consistent option before that injury, and he now has a 5.88 ERA on the season. He’ll get a chance to improve those numbers Saturday against the Mariners in Seattle.

The 28-year-old hurler will rejoin the Cubs’ rotation on Sunday afternoon against the Cardinals. Cabrera holds a 5.10 ERA, 1.40 WHIP and a 65/29 K/BB ratio across 72 1/3 innings in 14 starts with the Cubs this season.

Cabrera hasn’t been strong enough this year to be an easy start against the Cardinals in his first stint off the IL, but it wouldn’t be surprising if he pitched well either. He struck out seven in five scoreless innings in a tune-up on Tuesday at Double-A Knoxville.

No word on Cabrera’s velocity during the 64-pitch outing since this one was in a Double-A ballpark, but the results were certainly impressive. He looked sharp his last time out, tossing four shutout frames for Triple-A Iowa last week. It seems highly likely that he’ll be ready to return to Chicago’s rotation early next week.

Cabrera also didn’t walk anybody and threw 75 percent of his pitches for strikes. He sat 97.4 on his four-seam fastball and consistently overpowered Triple-A hitters. We should note that the strike rate on his four-seamer was just 64 percent in this one, and he threw only five sinkers, so fastball command is still a potential bugaboo. Considering he threw just 55 pitches overall in this one, we’d expect him to make one more rehab start before rejoining the Cubs rotation.

The results are a secondary concern since Cabrera looked sharp from a raw stuff standpoint, hitting 98.8 mph with his fastball during his first rehab outing. The 28-year-old, who is working his way back from a moderate left hamstring strain, struck out three and threw 43 pitches. Cubs manager Craig Counsell told reports on Friday that he’ll probably need two additional tune-up outings to continue building up his pitch count and stamina. That timeline puts Cabrera back in the Cubs’ rotation sometime around mid-August.

Cubs skipper Craig Counsell told reporters Cabrera is likely to require three rehab outings before returning. The 28-year-old starter hit the shelf with a moderate left hamstring strain back on June 24. He should make it back to Chicago at some point in mid-August.

There is no timetable yet for Cabrera to return after undergoing an MRI that revealed a rather significant hamstring strain. The 28-year-old starter hit the injured list earlier on Wednesday after suffering the injury during Tuesday night’s start against the Mets. His extended absence is another hit to Chicago’s perilously-thin rotation depth. It sounds like fantasy managers shouldn’t expect him back until some point in August.

Cabrera injured his hamstring when he accidentally did a split while covering first base on Tuesday night. He looked to be in a lot of pain and had to be removed from the game. The Cubs are sending him for imaging on Wednesday to see how long he will be out for.

Cabrera was on crutches in the clubhouse and will undergo an MRI to determine the severity of a hamstring strain that he suffered while stretching to make a play at first base during Tuesday’s start against the Mets. He was carted off the field afterwards and is likely facing a multi-week absence, which puts additional strain on Chicago’s starting pitching depth.

This didn’t look good at all. Cabrera was carted off the field after suffering a serious-looking left leg injury while covering first base to end the fifth inning. He was charged with two runs over five innings. The 28-year-old’s absence is another hit to Chicago’s rotation depth, which will get a lift when Matthew Boyd comes off the injured list this weekend. There should be an update on Cabrera’s status in the coming days, but he’s likely headed to the injured list.

Cabrera checked out fine after making an early exit from Tuesday’s start against the Rockies with a hand cramp. The 28-year-old will need to complete a bullpen session before he’s officially cleared to take the ball against the Mets on Monday in his next start.

Cabrera left the contest with one out in the fifth inning. The positive news is that it wasn’t a recurrence of the blister issue that sent him to the injured list earlier this season. The 28-year-old was charged with three runs over 4 1/3 innings. He struck out three and also issued two walks. There should be an update on his status following the contest and whether he’ll make his next start against the Mets on Monday. It sounds like a relatively minor concern.

Cabrera gave up a couple of homers in Coors, but both were solo shots. He struck out five and walked two. Cabrera’s velocity was again very good; he averaged 96.9 mph with his fastball today, just down from 97.3 mph last Friday in his return from the injured list. In 10 starts before missing time with a blister, Cabrera averaged 95.7 mph, and the only time he was over 96.0 mph previously was when he came in at 96.5 mph in his season debut. Obviously, he’ll be a better bet if the velocity sticks around, though he should be fine either way next week, as he’ll be facing the Rockies outside of Colorado.