Cubs bring back Hoerner; Pederson to IL
Before Thursday's game, the Cubs brought back second baseman Nico Hoerner from the South Bend alternate site and placed outfielder Joc Pederson on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to Wednesday, with left wrist tendinitis.
Hoerner hit .364 in the spring, which led many to speculate not making the regular-season roster was a service-time move, but the Cubs did have strong competition for infield spots with David Bote, Eric Sogard, Ildemaro Vargas and Matt Duffy.
It remains to be seen if Hoerner could see time in the outfield, which he's done three times in the past.
Manager David Bote used the same lineup as Wednesday, when the Cubs scored a season-high 16 runs. They were facing a left-handed pitcher for the second-straight day with the Mets' Joey Lucchesi. The Cubs are scheduled to see another lefty Friday in Milwaukee's Brett Anderson.
Before the game, Ross talked about deciding when to get left-handed hitters like Pederson and Jason Heyward some at-bats against lefties.
"There's a lot more that goes into it than just the lefty on the mound, to be honest with you," Ross said. "That is a factor in some things, but there's also, I want to give Ian Happ some right-handed at-bats. Duffy had a nice night last night, let's reward him and get him back in there.
"Trusting some guys, giving guys some length when they're trying to find their rhythm from another side like Happ is, and getting Duff back in there and David (Bote's) swinging it good. Putting a guy into a bad matchup scenario, where you don't think he's going to have the ability to have a lot of success is also problematic for confidence. So there's a lot of different ways to look at that."
Twitter: @McGrawDHBulls