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Nearly everything has gone right for the Chicago Cubs this season. The offense has been one of the best in the league and the pitching staff has done much of the same, despite several key injuries.
Left-handers Justin Steele and Shota Imanaga have both missed time, as has last year’s closer Porter Hodge.
Hodge and Imanaga, along with starting pitcher Javier Assad, are all set to return next week, and it is going to cause tough roster decisions for Chicago.
The return of those three will force three roster spots to be cleared. As it stands, relief pitcher Ryan Brasier feels like the only clear choice to be designated for assignment. That leaves two other moves to be made, and there are no good options to be sent down or released.
Imanaga will re-join the rotation, and it is likely that Assad will as well. That leaves it likely that Colin Rea and Ben Brown will be demoted from the rotation.
Brown’s 5.57 ERA makes him a likely candidate to be demoted to Triple-A Iowa, but that begs the question of whether a demotion will kill the confidence of a 25-year-old right-hander who has had success in the major leagues.
Rea will be the perfect long reliver or swingman in Chicago’s bullpen, the role he was in before Steele’s injury forced him into the rotation.
Hodge will likely return to a late-inning reliever role, and it is truly unclear who the Cubs will remove from the bullpen. All eight of the current relievers in Chicago’s bullpen have ERAs under 4.00
There is no easy option and no matter who is chosen, the pill will be a tough one to swallow for whichever reliever is demoted or released.
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