NEWSLETTER
Ian Stewart was a late scratch yesterday, and now it looks like he’ll be missing some time with his sore wrist.
“He’s been battling as much as he can through it,” manager Dale Sveum said of Stewart’s wrist. “It just got to the point today where it was pretty bad. Took him out of the lineup and we’re going to get it evaluated. We’ll put him on the DL [Thursday] and go from there.”
Stewart has been dealing with wrist issues for a long, long time – as far back as 2005. It was at its worst last year when he missed most of the second half of the season, and although the issue right now is just “soreness,” it’s fair to wonder when we’ll see him again.
As for who will replace Stewart on the roster, it is likely to be AAA infielder Luis Valbuena, 26, who’s hitting .300/.376/.502 for the Iowa Cubs. Josh Vitters, 22, is the Cubs’ current, most-advanced prospect at third base, but the Cubs don’t believe he’s ready for a look in the big leagues. Vitters is on the 40-man roster, though, so he’s going to require a look soon.
UPDATE: Indeed, it’s Luis Valbuena getting the call to the big team. He’s not on the 40-man roster, so it would seem there’s gotta be a corresponding 40-man move coming up. Someone like Blake Lalli could be removed relatively easily.
