The 80-game suspension of Chicago Cubs pitching prospect Oscar De La Cruz is over, and he has been reinstated to the 40-man roster.
It was back on July 6th of last year which seems like forever ago when the Chicago Cubs’ Oscar De La Cruz was handed his suspension from the MLB for violating their Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. He tested positive for Furosemide, which is on the banned substance list.
Before the suspense De La Cruz was the Cubs third prospect according to MLB’s pipeline list of top 30 Cubs prospects. He was 6-7 with a 5.24 ERA in 16 starts in Tennessee. He will be reinstated back to Double-A Tennessee to begin his road back.
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The Cubs have, as we all know struggled to get pitching from within the organization. De La Cruz has been a guy that the Cubs have been trying to be a starter.
De la Cruz has had the injury bug for most of his career. In 2016 he had elbow inflammation that kept him out until the middle of the summer.
With De La Cruz being reinstated and added to the 40 man roster, that means there needs to be a move made. The Cubs front office had some choices of what they could do.
One option being discussed was moving back up catcher Victor Caratini to the 60-day IL. But that wouldn’t work because if everything goes according to plan, his 4-6 week recovery is the middle of May. If he’s placed on the 60-day IL, he couldn’t come back until June 10.
The decision came out this morning on what the Cubs were going to do. They are sending right-handed pitcher Tony Barnette, who is still experiencing tightness in his shoulder to the 60-day IL to make room for Oscar De La Cruz on the 40-man roster.
Not that you would wish injury on someone, but this made the decision easier for the front office. It kept them from having to DFA anyone and will allow time for Barnette to rehab in a timely fashion.