Cubs send Brown to Iowa, activate Hodge

The Cubs made the move everyone saw coming on Tuesday, sending pitcher Ben Brown down to Iowa, while reliever Porter Hodge was activated from the injured list.

Brown seemed to seal the deal by giving up 8 earned runs — on four 2-run homers — in a loss to the Cardinals on Monday. But the Cubs were probably leaning in this direction to begin with, since Hodge was already on-site in St. Louis, waiting to join the active roster.

The Cubs are making a roster move with their starting rotation because Shota Imanaga is set to return from the injured list on Thursday afternoon against the Cardinals.

Before Tuesday's game, Cubs manager Craig Counsell told reporters in St. Louis about his message to Brown.

“We have a starter coming back and basically, within your struggles, there's growth,” Counsell said. “You don't know it at the time that it's happening, but you are getting better. When you're in the trees, it's hard to see that.

“Hopefully, you get a little space away from it and we can help him understand how he's getting better and see clearly the things he's got to get a little better at.”

Counsell acknowledged the Cubs want Brown to keep working on his third pitch, the change-up. The right-hander has had some dominant outings this season, but hasn't been consistent. While Brown is in Triple-A Iowa, the Cubs will also look to lessen his workload, since he missed most of last season with a neck injury.

With Imanaga coming back, the Cubs were essentially limited to sending down either Brown or Cade Horton, since there aren't many pitchers on the roster with minor-league options left. Horton has been very good in his first major-league stint, with a 3.73 ERA.

Hodge last pitched for the Cubs on May 17 against the White Sox. He went on the injured list with a left oblique strain and also dealt with a hip impingement. Hodge made four rehab appearances for Iowa and came away with a 21.00 ERA, so Counsell plans to proceed with caution.

“We're going to give Porter some softer landings here in terms of getting him back into it,” Counsell said. “But it's good to have him back and we'll try to get him out there regularly.

“We know Porter can be an important piece and a big piece. I don't think we're there right now and I think he needs to pitch a little bit more, but we want to have him active and we want to work toward getting him to that place.”