The results aren’t quite in yet on reliever Marcos Mateo’s MRI, but the Chicago Cubs aren’t waiting to make a move. Today they sent Mateo to the DL, while calling up reliever Chris Carpenter (who was, himself, just sent down a few days ago) to take his place.
The Cubs also selected the contract of starter Ramon Ortiz, who will make his season debut today, in place of Carlos Zambrano. To open a spot for Ortiz, the Cubs sent Casey Coleman – who started yesterday in place of Ryan Dempster – back to AAA Iowa. The move suggests that Dempster will indeed miss just one start with his back/intestinal problems.
Ortiz was 6-3 with a 4.26 ERA for the AAA Iowa Cubs this year. He hasn’t pitched in the bigs since mid-2010, and before that, 2007. Keep your expectations in check.