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Cubs send Fowler to DL with hamstring injury

Jerry Lai / USA TODAY Sports

The Chicago Cubs placed center fielder Dexter Fowler on the 15-day disabled list Monday, two days after the 30-year-old left his club's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates with a right hamstring injury.

Fowler, who boasts a career-best .881 OPS (138 OPS+) through 64 games in 2016, was diagnosed with a strain after undergoing an MRI on Sunday, but general manager Jed Hoyer is optimistic his club's leadoff man will be back in the lineup as soon as he's eligible.

"We don't think it’s a long-term injury," Hoyer told CBS Chicago. "I hate to put timetables on this. But, ultimately, we knew it was going to be something that would sideline him for at least the next handful of games, week or so, and that’s the case. Playing shorthanded for what would be the significant part of a DL stint doesn’t make a lot of sense."

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For now, the Cubs will likely have rookie Albert Almora - hitting .346 with four doubles through his first 11 MLB games - take over in center for Fowler, who leads all National League outfielders in All-Star voting with 1,611,833 votes (as of Wednesday).

"He has pretty much set the offensive tone for us along with (Ben Zobrist)," manager Joe Maddon said recently of Fowler's impact. "You look at our run differential, he is the one that pretty much set that up. The first part of the season really took on this tone that it did, because of him. When I say to him 'you go, we go,' it’s pretty much true when he is making things happen at the top. When it happens, the rest of the group seems to fall in order. He has been playing really high-caliber baseball."

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