Surgery looking likely for Stewart
It’s looking more like Cubs third baseman Ian Stewart will need surgery on his chronically sore left wrist.
Stewart has been on the disabled list since June 14, and he went to the Cleveland Clinic for a second opinion and a cortisone shot.
But the wrist is not progressing, with manager Dale Sveum saying there is some “calcification” in the affected area. The only option now may be surgery.
“I think it’s a strong likelihood, is a fair way to characterize it,” general manager Jed Hoyer said of the possibility of surgery. “He may be able to avoid it. We try to exhaust every option to avoid it, but he may well end up with surgery. It’s been frustrating for Ian and frustrating for us.”
Luis Valbuena has done a credible job at third base since coming up from Class AAA Iowa June 14. The Cubs don’t appear inclined to bring up prospect Josh Vitters, their No. 1 pick from 2007 who has come on strong at Iowa.
Vitters hit his 13th home run of the season Friday, and he had a hitting line of 292/.342/.504 for an OPS of .846. He had 13 homers, 43 RBI, 17 walks and 45 strikeouts entering Saturday.
Rotation roulette: Pitcher Ryan Dempster played catch again Saturday, and he#146;ll throw from the mound Monday in Atlanta as he recovers from a sore right-lat muscle. Dempster won#146;t return to the active roster until after the all-star break. The Cubs will recall Chris Volstad to start Tuesday in Atlanta. Randy Wells had filled Dempster#146;s spot, but the Cubs designated him for assignment this past week. At Iowa, Volstad is 2-3 with a 4.44 ERA after going 0-6 with a 7.46 ERA in 8 starts for the Cubs.#147;His last outing and even the outing before were pretty positive,#148; said manager Dale Sveum. #147;Logically, it#146;s his day, and he#146;s done a good job the last couple outings. It#146;s just kind of a logical thing to do.#148;Big innings had hurt Volstad during his first stay with the Cubs.#147;Who knows what it is?#148; Sveum said. #147;That#146;s always the million-dollar question. It#146;s been mainly getting through an inning when a little trouble comes up. That#146;s what he had trouble doing. He had as many shutout innings as anybody. He just couldn#146;t reduce some of those innings to 1 run. It was always multiple-run innings.#148;Catch this: Geovany Soto was back behind the plate, one day after Steve Clevenger hit his first major-league homer. Dale Sveum said he does not have a platoon with the right-handed hitting Soto and the rookie Clevenger, a left-handed batter. #147;I don#146;t think it#146;s a platoon,#148; Sveum said. #147;Soto#146;s probably going to catch probably 60-70 percent of the time. Platoon? No, it#146;s not a platoon. But Clevenger#146;s going to get his at-bats, there#146;s no question about it. Soto#146;s still going to catch a little bit more.#148;