On a day in which a member of their Opening Day rotation was back in town for the next step in his rehab process, the Cubs had to scratch their third baseman with an injury.

Isaac Paredes was removed from the starting lineup Sunday with right shoulder discomfort, the Cubs announced. Paredes was replaced by Patrick Wisdom at third base, hitting 8th.

It came a pair of hours after Jordan Wicks had thrown a “25ish”-pitch bullpen at Wrigley Field. Wicks, who has been out since June 15 with a right oblique strain, is making another rehab appearance on Tuesday with the Iowa Cubs.

[WATCH: Jordan Wicks’ main focus during rehab assignment]

His return to Chicago does mean a return from the IL is on the precipice.

“He needs to pitch,” manager Craig Counsell said before Sunday’s series finale against the Blue Jays. “He’s, admittedly, a little rusty, so he needs to get back on the mound, kind of get in the routine of bullpens, pitching, and then we’ll see where we’re at.”

Wicks saw the bullpen session as a perfect opportunity to work on some of the finer elements in his rehab outing.

In 2 rehab outings with Iowa, Wicks has allowed 10 earned runs on 9 hits and 4 walks. Those results are a little bit misleading — much of the emphasis when a pitcher has been out that long, especially early on in recovery, is on coming out of each outing feeling healthy.

“Getting into game shape, is a real part of it,” Wicks said. “Did a lot of conditioning while I was down, trying to make that a little bit easier. But it’s difficult to replicate game shape without being in a game.

“And so getting that back and then also just kind of cleaning up some of the pitch shape stuff and some of the mechanics right now is the main focus.”