Jeff Stevens Is Back In The Majors

The Chicago Cubs officially placed both Randy Wells, and Andrew Cashner onto the disabled list today. Both were placed on the designated 15-day disabled list. However, it is more likely that the two starting pitchers will be out for about a month. Especially in the case of Andrew Cashner, who will not even perform any baseball exercise for the next two weeks. With Wells and Cashner sidelined, the Cubs will have to turn to their farm system to find replacements.

The Cubs announced today that right handed reliever Jeff Stevens has been called up to pitch out of the bullpen. At this point, it would seem that Stevens will be replacing James Russell in the bullpen. Russell figures to take the place of Andrew Cashner as the fifth starter while Cashner is out with his injury.  Major League hitters have not been kind to Stevens so far in his major league career as in 30 innings of work, Stevens has an ERA of 6.53.

Casey Coleman will also be called up to the major league team, however, that move will not be announced until Sunday. Coleman is the scheduled starter on Sunday, which is why the Cubs are waiting to make the official roster move until the day of his start.

There is a slight possibility that the Cubs could call up another pitcher for the time being, as their roster is only at 24. Then come Sunday, the Cubs would send one of the two relievers that were called up back to the minors. It essentially is a game of musical chairs right now, when will the music stop? Nobody Knows.

This will be a pivotal stretch of games for the Cubs. While I do have confidence in Casey Coleman, there is a reason why Wells and Cashner were named the final starters of the rotation and not Coleman. Especially because I do not think Coleman gives the Cubs nearly the same value as Randy Wells did in the rotation. Though, I’m not too concerned about James Russell considering that at this point he and Cashner may offer the same quality of production. Plus, Cashner’s health is much more important than the production the Cubs get out of the  fifth spot in the rotation.