Chicago Cubs: Which pitchers might we see once rosters expand?

Chicago Cubs: A World Series champion in Iowa

Do remember when Rob Zastryzny was included on the playoff roster for the series against the Dodgers in 2016? Those Dodgers were ridiculously worse against left-handed pitching than right-handed pitching. Zastryzny had pitched decent in both Double-A and Triple-A that season. And with the Cubs Zastryzny had a 1.13 ERA over 16 innings, including one start.  So adding him to the playoff roster for that series made sense.

However, last year was a lost season for Zastryzny. He spent most of year injured or working his way back from being injured. He did eventually pitch 13 innings for he Cubs, but gave up 12 earned runs. This season hasn’t been bad, but it hasn’t been good either. The Cubs front office has shown a clear preference for Randy Rosario over Zastryzny when they want to call up an extra left-hander from the minors.

This is Zastryzny’s last option year. So this September might be the last time we see him in a Cubs uniform. However, because of that he also might be a casualty of a 40-man crunch and get waived instead.

The Cubs could always use him for one batter here and one batter there. That’s part of what September baseball has turned into. So Zastryzny being left -handed and already on the 40-man makes it more likely than not that he gets called up in September. But I still wouldn’t bet on it.