La Stella to DL, Rosscup called up; will Bryant come up Friday?
The Cubs made a move with a third baseman Tuesday, and it did not involve Kris Bryant.
They placed infielder Tommy La Stella on the 15-day disabled list with right-rib-cage inflammation. Instead of calling up Bryant or another position player, they instead recalled left-handed reliever Zac Rosscup from Class AAA Iowa.
The Cubs' bullpen has been taxed lately, the Cubs had been carrying just one left-handed reliever in Phil Coke. They now have a 13-man pitching staff.
It could be sooner rather than later that the Cubs bring Bryant from Iowa. Mike Olt is still iffy with a right-wrist injury. And if the Cubs wait until Friday to bring up Bryant, they can avoid being charged with a full year of service time for their hot prospect.
The La Stella DL move is retroactive to April 9.
"Right now, we were kind of playing it day by day, seeing if it would make sense to put (La Stella) on the DL and hoping we wouldn't have to" said Cubs president Theo Epstein. "Now that we got about halfway through, it made a lot of sense to put him on. And our pen has been taxed pretty heavy, too. So for right now we need the extra pen arm."
Epstein did not want to speculate on Bryant.
"It depends on what's happening with the roster, what's happening with his development," he said. "We don't know yet. Every day, check in with the trainers, check in with the manager, check in with the development guys. We'll see where we're at and put it all together."
Iowa was rained out Tuesday. Bryant (.381) went 3-for-5 with a stolen base in Monday's 4-1 victory at New Orleans. Upcoming:
The Cubs open a three-game series Friday at Wrigley Field against the Padres before heading out on the road to Pittsburgh and Cincinnati.
Rosscup saw action with the Cubs in 2013 and 2014. At Iowa this year, he tossed 2 scoreless appearances.
Manager Joe Maddon was asked if he would be a part of any decision on Bryant.
"Of course, I'll be part of it," he said. "But I'm a big believer in separation of powers. Of course the (front office) will ask me about it, but at the end of the day, that's not my decision."
Throwing pains:
The Cubs say the way for left-handed ace Jon Lester to overcome any problems throwing to first base on pickoffs or other plays will be to keep working on it.
Lester, who made his first pickoff attempt to first base in nearly two years Monday night, has not looked comfortable throwing to first.
"Just work," Epstein said. "He's very much a grown man. He's going to work. He's got some things to work on as he said last night.
"The question is, 'Can he still keep them close?' Almost every stolen-base attempt against us this year, we've had a really good chance to throw the runner out, where a good throw would have had him almost every time. That's not to say throwing to first base isn't important. It is."
Joe Maddon said the situation becomes a serious issue "only if we permit it to be that. We still have control over it, I believe. There are things that we can do, and that's what I want us to focus on."