Making things official, today the Chicago Cubs announced that Addison Russell had been called up from AAA Iowa, and will be joining the team tonight in Pittsburgh.
He will be taking Arismendy Alcantara’s spot on the 25-man roster. The versatile switch hitter wasn’t doing much hitting in the early going, and had been bumped from a regular role. Thus, heading back to Iowa to work on his swing was the expected move. Hopefully he can make some tweaks and find his way back to the big league team at some point. That defensive versatility, if he can hit a little bit, is hugely valuable, either to the Cubs or to another team in trade. Alcantara is only 23.
To make room for Russell on the 40-man roster, Mike Olt was transferred from the 15-day disabled list to the 60-day disabled list (which, if you didn’t already know, opens up a 40-man spot – players on the 60-day disabled list must sit out at least 60 days, but they no longer count against the 40-man roster limit).
We discussed Olt’s unfortunate wrist injury this weekend. He was hit by a fastball a week ago, thought he was going to be OK, but then subsequent tests revealed a hairline fracture. Olt is expected to be in a cast for three to six weeks, and then he’ll rehab after that. Given the timeline, having him on the 60-day DL makes sense.