Today, the Chicago Cubs officially announced a series of roster moves to aid in the bullpen and return Jason Heyward to the active roster.
Heyward was activated from the DL (knuckle), and is starting today in right field. He takes the 25-man roster spot from Tommy La Stella, who, despite hitting very well at the big league level (.304/.484/.522), once again will ride the bus in Iowa thanks to a crowded big league roster. He will be back again eventually, but the emergence of Ian Happ as an every-game-type starter right now forced the issue.
The Cubs also optioned righty Pierce Johnson back to Iowa after he made his big league debut (an inning split up by a two-hour rain delay), and called up righty Dylan Floro.
Floro, claimed off of waivers from the Rays in the offseason, was up earlier this year in a fill-in like this, helping the Cubs with 4.1 innings in Colorado. He pitched very well out of the bullpen for the Rays last year, split between the big league team and AAA, but he hasn’t yet had success this season with Iowa (4.74 ERA, 5.59 FIP, 10.2% K rate, 4.6% BB rate).