As expected, today the Chicago Cubs will activate pitchers Ryan Dempster (sore quad) and Kerry Wood (scrambled shoulder) from the disabled list, and will send pitchers Randy Wells and Scott Maine back to Iowa.
Wells got a couple starts filling in for Dempster, and he was not successful. Apparently Wells was not happy with the decision, but accepts that he has only himself to blame. He’ll return to the Iowa rotation and hopefully have more success there than he had in Chicago or in his first few starts at Iowa.
Maine was solid in his 5.2 innings of work (1.59 ERA, 0.529 WHIP), but, for whatever reason, the front office or Dale Sveum just doesn’t like him (that’s unfair – he’s got options left, so the move was the most logical). He struck out 10, but he did walk two and hit two batters. Control has always been an issue for Maine, so I guess he’ll go back to Iowa and keep working on it.
Any word on when the Chris Rusin for Chris Volstad roster move is going to be announced?
When Volstad’s FIP goes above 4.
Iowa hasn’t announced any corresponding moves yet. Daniel Berlind could be heading back to Tennessee. Frank Batista might be the other guy bumped. I’d rather the Cubs keep him in Iowa for awhile now that he’s there and see what he can do. My second guess would be a DL trip for someone, or releasing Nate Robertson.
That is a real bummer to see Maine sent back down as he has been filthy since being called up. Not much you can really do at this point with having to keep Lendy around. Having another lefty as an option was huge too.
This upsets me. Maine has looked very sharp. Kerry better have fixed whatever was wrong, really all there is to say about that.
After Wells last start, I can’t complain about him being sent down, though I was hoping a double header would give him one more shot to pitch. I can think of several other players who could have been optioned over Maine, but since Volstad is a starter, he was not really an option. I hope Kerry is “fixed” and I’m excited to see Dempster pitch again.
Under normal circumstances, I don’t think anyone could make a case that Lendy Castillo should have a spot in the bullpen over Scott Maine, but we are in the midst of the cultivation years and face value logic is not always applicable.
I think that’s exactly right. I don’t really have a beef with the decision. It’s a bummer for Maine, but the Cubs are trying to take a free 22-year-old pitcher with upside.
*almost* free.
Yeah.
Will someone please tell me what this supposed upside with lendy Castillo is? His velocity is well down, his control is suspect as well. I just don’t see it
You’re seeing a guy who has fewer career innings pitched then some high school players. Lendy Castillo isn’t even really pitching yet, he’s still more of a thrower. The upside is what happens when he gets that experience and learns to actually pitch. He has the potential to be a closer, but if it weren’t for the oddities of the Rule 5 draft he’d be two or three years away from the majors.
when was the last time castillo pitched?