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With Jon Lester on the mound for the Chicago Cubs in Game 2 of this four-game weekend set with the San Francisco Giants at Wrigley Field, news regarding veteran catcher Miguel Montero has surfaced.
According to MLB.com, the Cubs have activated Montero from the disabled list while optioning outfielder Matt Szczur to Triple-A Iowa as a corresponding move – which isn’t surprising.
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Montero, 32, has been on the sidelines since suffering a sprained left thumb in a game against the Chicago White Sox back on July 11. This forced the front-office to recall rookie catcher, Kyle Schwarber from the Iowa Cubs and has worked out fairly well for the club as he played a key part in their six-game winning streak that ended on Wednesday.
Which brings us to our next question: What is going to happen to Schwarber now that Montero is back with the big league club? Well, skipper, Joe Maddon was approached by the media just three days ago and he wasn’t ready to talk about anything just yet – at least to everyone who stepped foot in his office before Tuesday’s game.
"“I’m not ready yet, specifically, to tell you what the plan is going to be. Once Miggy comes back, I want it to be in place so there are no gray areas, that everyone knows what’s going on. So those conversations are actively going on.” – Maddon via Chicago Tribune"
The decision to demote Szczur instead of Schwarber brings back the catcher trio that Madden used to open up the 2015 campaign. Prior to Kyle being promoted to Iowa, Joe used David Ross, Montero, and former Cub, Welington Castillo up until the man dubbed ‘Beef Castle’ was traded to the Seattle Mariners.
Castillo found himself in a few pitch hit opportunities while Ross and Montero picked up the majority of the work behind the dish. Could this happen to Schwarber as well despite the young slugger clubbing three home runs over his last four games?
Doubtful. In fact, if anyone comes off the bench between Jon Lester’s starts, it should be Ross. Not that he’s a bad player, but the offense between Montero and Schwarber benefits this club more now since they are in the thick of the playoff race.
Now, Montero picked up four games with the Double-A Tennessee Smokies this week and did fairly well.
He put his power back on display in yesterday’s game for the Smokies, launching a go-ahead grand slam while serving as the team’s designated hitter in the 7-6 loss to the Birmingham Barons.
Miguel returns with a yearly mark of 10 home runs, 32 RBI, five doubles and 50 hits total with a batting line of .230/.337/.392 and OPS of .729.
Maddon could plug him in the lineup sometime this weekend, more than likely tomorrow when Kyle Hendricks squares off against Matt Cain in Game 3 of this series.