The Cubs have a pretty straight-forward roster move for you before tonight’s series opener against the Mets: Frank Schwindel (back strain) is returning from the injured list in place of Andrelton Simmons, who hits the IL, himself.
Simmons is reportedly dealing with a right shoulder strain, and the Cubs were able to retro his IL stint back to July 11.
With Seiya Suzuki back in right field, Rafael Ortega grabbing most of the starts in center, and Chris Morel and David Bote covering second base, the loss of Simmons won’t impact much in the short-term. With that said, the Cubs won’t have an obvious backup shortstop for Nico Hoerner – whether that’s in an emergency or just to give him rest to mitigate against any injuries.
Of course, Simmons was barely playing anyway, so … shrug.
As for Schwindel, he’s not in the starting lineup tonight (Carlos Carrasco has pretty significant lefty/righty splits this season (so Alfonso Rivas makes more sense anyway)), but I do think we’ll see him most often at first the rest of the way.
Schwindel got five rehab starts at Triple-A, with just two hits, including a single and a homer, four strikeouts and no walks.