Casey Coleman May Return To Rotation Soon

Ever since Randy Wells and Andrew Cashner were originally injured in April, the Cubs have had a rotating door at the fourth and fifth starter spots in their rotation. Casey Coleman was given an extended opportunity to be the permanent fifth starter while Cashner remained sidelined, but Coleman struggled to reach consistency at the major league level. With that said, Coleman was optioned to Iowa as Wells returned from the disabled list.

For the time being Doug Davis and Rodrigo Lopez are the bottom two starters in the Cubs rotation. But that will soon change. Matt Garza is scheduled to return next weekend, so either Davis or Lopez would move out of the rotation and possibly in the bullpen. Though, if Davis struggles in his next start he could decide to retire instead of pitching out of the bullpen. No matter who the fifth starter is after next weekend, do not expect them to be the fifth starter for long.

Although Coleman was just optioned to Iowa, the Cubs plan on bringing him back up in the near future. Standard MLB rules are that a player must wait 10 days after his demotion before he can be promoted back to the major leagues. But, judging the comments from Cubs’ pitching coach Mark Riggins, Coleman will likely make two starts with the I-Cubs before returning to major leagues.

"The Cubs remain high on Coleman as a more permanent starter while Andrew Cashner (shoulder) remains sidelined.‘‘Casey can get his confidence back and location and get consistency,’’ Riggins said. ‘‘Up here, it’s about consistency. I don’t think it will take him long. All he needs is a few games. He’ll be back soon.’’ Chicago Sun Times"

Coleman’s inability to throw strikes was the main factor that led to him being inconsistent. If anything, Coleman’s control issues may have been brought on by how confident he was. But either way, after Coleman gets a couple starts under his belt at Iowa, he should be back in the major league rotation. There is a good chance that Coleman–once he is recalled–will finish the season in the rotation, as Cashner likely will not return to the rotation upon his return. Cashner was placed on the 60 day disabled list today, so the possibility remains that we may not see him for the rest of the season.

Apparently, the Cubs do have some faith in a youth movement. As they remain confident that Coleman can be a permament replacement to Cashner instead of Davis or Lopez. Rightfully so. As has been said all season, there is essentially no point for the Cubs to continue to run out veteran starting pitchers in place of Cashner, when they could evaluate Coleman or other young pitchers in the same situation.