In between games today, the Chicago Cubs called up Antonio Alfonseca’s evil, five-fingered twin, Marcos Mateo to shore up the sure-to-be-heavily-taxed bullpen. In a corresponding move, the Cubs sent second baseman DJ LeMahieu, mercifully, to AAA Iowa, where he probably should have been for the last three weeks.
Mateo, 27, made the Cubs out of Spring Training, flashing excellent stuff at times. But he couldn’t put it all together, and, after accumulating a 5.74 ERA in 20 relief appearances, was sent down to AAA. For now, he’s being called up as depth and little more.
LeMahieu hit just .243/.243/.270 in 37 at bats. He’ll probably be called back up when rosters expand in September, but otherwise will be working toward getting a shot in 2012. He was going to be sent down tomorrow anyway when Darwin Barney returns from the disabled list.