Cubs recall tarnished former first-round pick ahead of Brewers’ finale

After bouncing back to even the weekend series against the Brewers on Saturday, the Chicago Cubs find themselves in a wildly unenviable spot heading into the finale, thanks to a shorthanded pitching staff that's near the breaking point.

Left-hander Ryan Rolison will serve as the opener on Sunday afternoon - and is expected to turn things over to former first-round pick Jordan Wicks, who was recalled from Triple-A Iowa ahead of the contest. Vince Velazquez, who closed on Saturday's victory, was designated for assignment in a corresponding move.

Jordan Wicks gets one more chance to prove himself to the Cubs

Wicks has had two bites at the apple already this year - and neither left a particularly pleasant taste in anybody's mouth. Across two starts, spanning 6 1/3 innings of work, the southpaw has allowed 11 earned on 13 hits - and his body of work at Iowa hasn't been much better. In 11 Triple-A starts this season, Wicks has a 6.64 ERA and is allowing more than a dozen hits per nine.

I went into the day thinking that Bryse Wilson would be the long man in the finale, but that's not the case. There have been stretches where Milwaukee really struggled against left-handers, so maybe that's behind it? Regardless, it's hard to feel good turning to Wicks given how hard the Cardinals and Pirates hit him earlier this year.

In an ideal world, something clicks and Wicks is a viable option for the Cubs as they just try to survive until the All-Star break, but I'm not betting on that being the case. For awhile now, it's felt like the clock is ticking on the former Kansas State hurler - and it wouldn't surprise me at all if this is his last season with the organization, regardless of how light the Cubs' internal pitching depth is at this point.

Given that Drew Pomeranz is back with the team, I wonder if we see him rejoin the team tomorrow at Wrigley, where the Cubs open a homestand with a three-game set against the Padres. But we're getting ahead of ourselves here. Let's just focus on Sunday's finale and (hopefully) notch a huge series W.

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