Chicago Cubs activate Welington Castillo; DFA Eli Whiteside

In a pair of corresponding roster moves, the Chicago Cubs activated catcher Welington Castillo from the disabled list and designated backup catcher Eli Whiteside for assignment ahead of Sunday’s finale with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Castillo went on the disabled list in early June with a rib injury and recently completed a rehab assignment with Triple-A Iowa that was capped with an impressive night at the plate on Saturday. He was hitting .242/.287/.385 at the time of his injury with five home runs and 21 RBIs in 43 games for Chicago. Since his departure, the team has received virtually no offense from behind the dish and his added contributions with the bat will be much appreciated in the days and weeks to come.

Whiteside, 34, is below the Mendoza Line at the plate this season for Chicago, hitting just .120 with two RBIs – one of which came in last night’s loss to the Pirates at Wrigley Field. The Cubs also signed longtime backstop Yorvit Torrealba to a minor league deal during Castillo’s absence, but he never saw any time on the Chicago roster.

John Baker will start Sunday’s game behind the plate for the Cubs.