Roster Moves Expected Today

Randy Wells and Andrew Cashner may soon be joined on the disabled list by starting catcher Geovany Soto. During last night’s game, Soto was forced to leave the game after straining his groin while doing the splits in an attempt to block a pitch. While nothing is official, Soto will take a MRI today and is expected to miss a few days. But there is no word on whether or not the Cubs plan to put their catcher on the disabled list.

However, watching the Iowa Cubs last night may have shown the Cubs hand on how they want to deal with the Soto injury. As Geovany Soto left the Cubs’ game last night, Iowa Cubs catcher Wellington Castillo was simultaneously pulled from his game. The move was done in anticipation of Soto being placed on the disabled list.

If Soto does land on the disabled list and Castillo is recalled from Iowa, expect Castillo to get most of the starts in Soto’s absence. While Koyie Hill is the backup catcher and may be better defensively, Castillo is without question the better offensive option. Besides, Castillo probably would not have been the one to be called up if he wasn’t going to receive majority of the starts.

Along with Castillo, veteran starting pitcher Doug Davis may also be recalled from Iowa today. Davis started for the Iowa Cubs last night and was on a 60 pitch limit for his start. Manager Mike Quade will announce Saturday’s starter today, and more than likely the starter will be Davis. Davis may not be recalled until Friday or Saturday, as the logical option would be to keep an extra arm in the bullpen until Saturday when they need Davis. When Davis is recalled, I’d imagine that Justin Berg is the one that will be sent down.

Schedule