Romine, Miller debut; Alzolay will skip a start
The Cubs made a couple more roster moves before Wednesday's game.
Catcher Austin Romine joined the active roster and made his official Cubs debut in the 7-0 loss at Milwaukee. He went 0-for-3 at the plate with a strikeout in his first start since recovering from a sore knee in the spring.
Backup catcher Tony Wolters was designated for assignment. Pitchers Adbert Alzolay and Brad Wieck were set to the South Bend alternate site. Shelby Miller moved from South Bend to the big-league roster, while reliever Jason Adam made a quick return from the injured list.
Miller also made his Cubs debut Wednesday and it didn't go well. He gave up 2 hits and 3 walks without retiring a batter and was tagged for 4 earned runs in the sixth inning. Rookie Justin Steele then made his second big-league appearance with the bases loaded and nobody out. He gave up a 2-run single, then got out of the inning.
"Looked like his body was ahead of his arm a little bit, just didn't look in sync on the mound," Ross said of Miller, a former all-star who was sharp in the spring.
Ross said the move with Alzolay was a response to Kyle Hendricks getting scratched from Wednesday's start due to feeling under the weather. This almost certainly means Hendricks will take the mound this weekend against Atlanta, then the Cubs have another day off on Monday.
"(Alzolay) will go down and kind of make his scheduled start on Sunday in South Bend," Ross said. "Then we'll get everybody back in turn and he'll come back soon. Too many off-days for any pitcher is going to lead to them not being sharp."