MESA, Ariz. — Javier Assad will be shut down from throwing.

But the Cubs don’t expect the pitcher to miss too much time.

“We’re in a good [place],” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said on Tuesday afternoon at Sloan Park. “I don’t think it’s going to be many days that we’re without throwing. So, good news.”

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Assad had an MRI done on Monday that revealed a mild strain in his left oblique.

“The MRI was good news, and I expect to see him back out there throwing shortly,” Counsell said.

Assad suffered the injury after reporting to Cubs camp. He had thrown, then done his post-throwing workout when he began to feel the pain. Because of the nature of how the pain occurred, they thought they could let him just rest.

“It’s mild, so you give it some time to see if it just went away and kind of persisted over the week so that’s when we decided to get the imaging done,” Counsell said.

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The righty represents a strong rotation candidate for the Cubs. While the season for them starts a bit earlier with the Tokyo Series in Japan against the Dodgers, Assad’s injury wouldn’t be too much of a concern in terms of testing rotation depth, since they would only necessarily need two starters ready to fully go by March 18.

But if the injury delays Assad beyond that, someone like Colin Rea, who was signed as a free agent this offseason, could represent a rotational depth piece.

Catching drills

Cubs catchers took part in some interesting drills on the 12-pack bullpen at Sloan Park on Tuesday.

Miguel Amaya and Carson Kelly joined minor leaguers Moisés Ballesteros and Pablo Aliendo and non-roster invitees Carlos Pérez and Reese McGuire in doing a variety of workouts that were meant to improve their backstop abilities.

The catchers split up into pairs and tossed two small balls at each other, with the other catcher needing to catch both at the same time. The drill was meant to test their eye work, as pitchers who have pitches that have late break or movement can be hard to pick up.

Then, the catchers did reaction drills, where one held their hands above the other’s who had two balls in his hand. The person with the balls would drop them and the other would have to catch them before they hit the ground.

Another new look

Ryan Brasier threw a bullpen session for the first time since camp opened. The veteran righty, acquired just before pitchers and catchers reported from the Dodgers in a trade, threw a bullpen session with Porter Hodge, Tyson Miller and prospect Cade Horton.