Cubs make roster moves and move up tonight’s game!
There is a lot of news coming out of Wrigley Field today. Here’s a quick rundown on everything that has transpired today.
Game Time Moved
The Chicago Cubs announced that tonight’s first pitch has been moved up to 6:35pm CST. This is in anticipation of evening rain. We saw the Cubs do this in an April game, which worked. Rain did delay the game briefly in the eighth but they were able to finish it before it poured for the remainder of the night. This move is definitely an encouraging sign. Hopefully, MLB will continue to let game-time changes occur and even make the decision to move games to the daytime or vice versa, if necessary.
Roster Moves
The Cubs announced two roster moves today. They placed IF Ben Zobrist (.241/.353/.243) on the restricted list as he takes a personal leave of absence. Zobrist will be on leave for an undetermined amount of time at this point. No additional details were provided on his personal dealings.
To fill the roster void, the Cubs have called up embattled infielder Addison Russell from Triple-A Iowa. Russell will start at 2B and bat eighth tonight. Obviously, there is a lot of controversy surrounding Russell after he was suspended for 40 games for violating MLB’s domestic violence policy.
The Cubs also placed reliever Pedro Strop on the 10 day injured list for a strained left hamstring. Strop blew the save on Monday after he lost control and walked three batters in the inning. With three relievers who have closer experience (Kintzler, Brach, Cishek), expect Maddon to continue to use a closer by committee until Strop returns.
To fill the void, Mike Montgomery has been activated off the injured list. Montgomery struggled out of the gate before hitting the injured list. This gives the Cubs another lefty out of the bullpen and another long man as well.
