As expected, the Cubs have activated tonight’s starter, Yu Darvish, from the disabled list (flu). And in his place, as multiple outlets are now reporting, outfielder Mark Zagunis gets sent back to Triple-A Iowa:
Zagunis optioned to make room for Darvish
— Mark Gonzales (@MDGonzales) May 15, 2018
Mark Zagunis optioned to Iowa to make room for Darvish coming off flu-bug DL.
— Gordon Wittenmyer (@GDubCub) May 15, 2018
If you recall, Yu Darvish’s last start with the club was all the way back on May 2nd (against the Rockies at Wrigley Field), but ahead of his regularly scheduled start on Tuesday, May 8th, Darvish was sent to the disabled list with a parainfluenza virus.
He was originally slated/eligible to start yesterday, but, according to Jed Hoyer, the Cubs flipped him and Jose Quintana in the rotation, in an effort to give Darvish as many days of rest as possible. Hopefully, he’s ready to go tonight.
Mark Zagunis is being sent back to Iowa, which was also somewhat expected as he was not only one of the last ones brought up during this stretch of roster moves, but also because he was an “extra” bat relative to normal circumstances.
Now, the Cubs active roster has three outfielders (Kyle Schwarber, Ian Happ, and Albert Almora), seven infielders (Ben Zobrist, Addison Russell, Anthony Rizzo, Tommy La Stella, Kris Bryant, David Bote, and Javy Baez), two catchers (Willson Contreras and Victor Caratini), five starters (Darvish, Jon Lester, Kyle Hendricks, Jose Quintana, and Tyler Chatwood), and eight relievers (Justin Wilson, Pedro strop, Brandon Morrow, Mike Montgomery, Justin Hancock, Carl Edwards Jr., Steve Cishek, and Brian Duensing).