Assad tossed five scoreless innings of relief in Thursday's loss to the Nationals. He allowed two hits and struck out one.
With Jameson Taillon (groin) returning from the injured list and only going three innings to start the game, Assad was needed to provide some length. He did that and kept the Cubs in the game, though they fell 4-3 on a walkoff home run. Assad entered the contest with an ugly 9.82 ERA but was able to lower that figure to 5.84. The righty doesn't have a ton of fantasy value as a long reliever, though he could enter the rotation at some point this year.