Soto, Lee out; Castillo, Hoffpauir in

The Cubs' revolving door continued Tuesday.

After Monday night's 4-3 loss to the Giants in 11 innings, the Cubs placed catcher Geovany Soto on the 15-day disabled list. They also placed first baseman Derrek Lee on the bereavement list.

Soto has been bothered since the weekend with a mild ligament sprain in his right shoulder. Lee left the club to take care of his ailing grandfather in Sacramento.

To fill the spots, the Cubs called up catcher Welington Castillo and first baseman Micah Hoffpauir from Class AAA Iowa. Castillo is looking to make his major-league debut. Hoffpauir spent parts of 2008 and 2009 with the Cubs.

At Iowa, Castillo, 23, had a hitting line of .251/.317/.507 with 13 homers and 57 RBI. Hoffpauir was at .273/.356/.521 with 20 homers and 87 RBI.

Hoffpauir also had good things to say about Iowa manager Ryne Sandberg, the Hall of Famer who is a candidate to replace Lou Piniella as manager of the Cubs.

"There are a lot of managers in this game who give up on you if you're hitting .196 in June, you know?" Hoffpauir told the Des Moines Register. "That's the kind of stuff you appreciate. It makes you want to go out and play hard for him."

Rookie brigade: When Welington Castillo gets into a game, he'll be the 14th rookie to appear for the Cubs this season.

Reliever Marcos Mateo, who took the loss Monday, became the 11th Cubs rookie pitcher this year. That's the most in franchise history for a season. The previous high was 10, set in 1958 and 1962.

Castillo has been known as a defensive catcher. The Cubs have said they like his progress this year. He has been the youngest catcher in the Pacific Coast League. The 23-year-old Castillo signed with the Cubs as a nondrafted free agent in 2004 out of the Dominican Republic.