CHICAGO — Michael Soroka exited his Cubs debut with right shoulder discomfort after the second inning, the team announced Monday.

Manager Craig Counsell confirmed postgame that he will head to the IL.

“He had some right shoulder discomfort,” Counsell said. “He said he let a pitch go in the second inning and just didn’t feel good. Finished the inning but came in the dugout and his shoulder was not feeling good. It’s an IL (stint) and we’ll see what the next steps are.”

Shoulder injuries are often tricky and anytime a player is placed on the IL immediately after a game, it’s a concerning sign.

“You feel bad for Michael, first,” Counsell said. “And you just hope that there’s just some discomfort there and a couple weeks could take care of it. That’s where we’re at. We’re gonna have to wait to get more information before we know what we’re dealing with.”

It’s a big letdown for Soroka, whose Cubs debut got off to a dream start. He struck out the Cincinnati Reds’ T.J. Friedl — the first batter he saw — and proceeded to pitch around a walk by striking out two more in the first inning.

Then, things went way south.

Soroka gave up a solo home run to Tyler Stephenson in the second inning, and while that was the extent of the damage on the scoreboard, he could be seen leaving the dugout with a trainer after the frame. Ben Brown began warming up in the bullpen, and subsequently replaced Soroka in the third inning.

“I just went to go put a little extra on a fastball and grabbed me a little bit, didn’t go away,” Soroka said after the game. “So decided to say something when I came in after that inning and (the medical staff) moved along.”

To add to the madness, Reds starter Nick Lodolo walked off the mound with a trainer in the bottom of the second inning and was replaced by Nick Martinez. Lodolo had retired five Cubs in a row prior to his exit. It was later announced that the lefty was dealing with a blister on his left finger.

Monday was Soroka’s 28th birthday and his highly anticipated Cubs debut. He was the team’s biggest pitching acquisition at the trade deadline — a pitcher who is still in his prime and whose peripheral numbers indicate quality future performance.

[READ: Michael Soroka, new Cubs pitcher, excited for fresh start on winning team]

Moving from one of the game’s worst teams to a pennant race had Soroka feeling rejuvenated. He was also expected to benefit from the Cubs’ elite defensive group.

However, Soroka’s velocity had been down in his last few starts with the Nationals. After sitting around 94-95 mph with his fastball earlier in the year, Soroka hovered around 91-92 mph in his last two starts.

On Monday, he was mostly clocked at 91 mph, but his last two fastballs registered at just 89 mph in the second inning.

“His velocity has gone a little bit backwards and he was trying to figure out how to address that and fix that,” Counsell said. “I think he was very optimistic in the first couple days here that we could help him there. And things could get better, so this is unfortunate.”

Soroka confirmed after the game that he did get an MRI on his throwing shoulder before his start with the Nationals on July 29 to assess his drop in velocity. He wasn’t feeling any pain, but wanted to “check that other box off.”

“There was no reason to believe that there was anything wrong, so we cleared that,” Soroka said. “And unfortunately, you know, that changed a little bit in the second inning today.”

Soroka has dealt with his fair share of injuries in his MLB career. The righty missed all of April this season with a biceps strain in his throwing arm. A shoulder strain with the White Sox last season kept him out for over two months, and he missed the entirety of the 2021 and 2022 seasons with the Atlanta Braves after tearing his Achilles two separate times.

“It’s never fun — it’s embarrassing. You come to this organization, and you hope to hit the ground running,” Soroka said. “Two innings later, we’re having to pull the plug.

“It’s concerning, but there is hope that it’s something that can be taken care of fairly quickly, and hopefully we’ll be back out there in some respect, at some point soon.”