With pitchers Randy Wells and Andrew Cashner officially heading to the disabled list, the Cubs made a corresponding roster move and called up reliever Jeff Stevens from AAA Iowa. Casey Coleman will be the other move, but he won’t pitch until Sunday, and thus will not get the official call-up until then. In theory the Cubs could bring up another bullpen arm in the interim (otherwise they’re playing with 24 players), and shuttle that guy or Stevens back out the door on Sunday. Come Tuesday, the Cubs will need a fifth starter, which could be Thomas Diamond from AAA, or it could be James Russell from the bullpen.
Either way, there will be a couple more roster moves over the next few days.
UPDATE: The Cubs say it will be James Russell getting the start in Houston on Tuesday, so the Cubs will almost certainly be calling up another reliever soon. Mike Quade says that Russell won’t be throwing more than 50 pitches, so the bullpen better be ready to go early.