Wells takes Dempster’s spot
From 2009-11, Randy Wells was a mainstay of the Cubs starting rotation. His starting career began with great promise in ’09, when he went 12-10 with a 3.05 ERA.
But when he takes the mound Wednesday night at U.S. Cellular Field, it will be in the role of spot starter, as he fills in for the injured Ryan Dempster.
“It’s unfortunate that Demp went down,” Wells said Tuesday. “Like I said, it’s an opportunity to get back on the hill as a starter and hopefully have some quick innings and some quality innings and give the team a chance to win. That’s pretty much the extent of my thought processes right now. I’m not worried about what it means and all this stuff.”
It’s been a tough year for Wells. He went to spring training as an incumbent before losing not only his job, but his spot in the major leagues.
He went to Class AAA Iowa before coming up in late April to make a pair of fill-in starts (also for Dempster). It was back to Iowa in early May before he came up to work out of the bullpen later in May.
His approach has been to go with the flow while trying to keep his confidence high.
“That’s all you can do,” he said. “That’s all I’ve ever done. I’ve never been a guy that likes to ruffle feathers or say, ‘I deserve this,’ because I don’t feel like I do. Every day that you’re here is a blessing. You can’t think of it like you deserve something or you’re entitled to something because, really, you’re not.
“I think the main thing going down to the minor leagues this year shows you how good of guys we got down there that can come up at any time. It just shows you there’s nothing guaranteed in this game, no matter what your numbers are or what you’ve done in the past. There’s always somebody that will take your job. I was one of those guys once. It hasn’t changed. It’s just another stop in the road.”
Stewart gets checked: Third baseman Ian Stewart likely will rejoin the Cubs on Wednesday after getting his sore left wrist examined Monday at the Cleveland Clinic for a second opinion. Stewart went on the disabled list last week. #147;The doctors checked him out, and they didn#146;t find anything that our doctors hadn#146;t found, so nothing major,#148; said manager Dale Sveum. #147;They injected (cortisone) on top of the hand this time, and that seemed to go well. Hopefully, that will get him through the season, and we#146;ll go from there.#148;Stewart has been bothered the better part of the year by the wrist. #145;Second#146; leadoff spot:Speedster Tony Campana was in the lineup a second straight night, and in the ninth spot, with the Cubs playing by American League rules. The No. 9 spot can be used as a second leadoff spot by AL clubs. #147;It felt like that last night, too,#148; Campana said. #147;I got to lead off a few innings, and I was able to get on. And you#146;ve got the top of the order behind you, so all you#146;ve got to do is really get in scoring position and those guys up there, they#146;re up there for a reason.#148;Ÿ Caitlin Swieca contributed to this report.