Ben Zobrist was recently granted a personal leave of absence from the Cubs and placed on the restricted list.

As of Wednesday morning — and credit where it’s due, first reported by Cubs Insider and BCB’s Danny Rockett — we have learned of the likely reason for this leave.

Cook County, Illinois public records show that on Monday, Ben’s wife Julianna Zobrist filed for divorce. You can search this yourself by going to this link, selecting “Domestic relations,” searching by name, and typing “Zobrist” into the search box.

When there is a divorce of two high-profile people like Ben and Julianna, and young children involved, there’s likely a lot of arrangements to be made, which is probably the reason Ben asked for the time away from the team.

At this time I think we owe them their privacy and no speculation regarding the reasons for this breakup, which should be between the two of them only. There’s no timetable for Ben to return to the Cubs and I hope they give him all the time he needs. It’s entirely possible that Ben might take the remainder of the 2019 season to settle this matter.

I wish them both well, and hope everything works out for Ben and Julianna and their family.