According to a report from Bruce Miles following Sunday’s loss to the Mets, the Cubs will designate Michael Bowden for assignment on Tuesday to make room on the active roster for Matt Garza.
Matt Garza is set to come off the DL to make his first start since July 21 of last year when the Cubs open a three-game series in Pittsburgh on Tuesday. The Cubs sent Carlos Villanueva to the bullpen on Saturday when they announced Garza would return on Tuesday which meant a reliever was on the way out.
The decision appeared to be down to Michael Bowden or Shawn Camp and the front office has apparently chosen to try to send Bowden back through waivers.
Michael Bowden has pitched well at times this season. In 14 appearances, Bowden is 1-2 with a 3.78 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. In 16 2/3 innings, Bowden has surrendered 14 hits, walked five batters while striking out seven. Bowden will likely be claimed this time around as he has shown improvement and would likely be an upgrade for many teams as the seventh or eighth arm in their pen.
Shawn Camp on the other hand has not pitched well at all. Camp has not received the bad publicity that Carlos Marmol has but in many ways has pitched worse than Marmol this year. In 19 games, Camp has allowed 13 runs on 23 hits with six walks and 12 strikeouts in just 16 innings (7.31 ERA and a 1.75 WHIP) … plus two balks, and one gave the Giants a game back in April. With all of the stories coming out in recent days about Camp’s workload a year ago, it appeared Camp was on his way to the disabled list to make room for Matt Garza.
The Cubs re-signed Shawn Camp to a one-year, $1.35 million contract in the off-season that includes a $200,000 performance based incentives package.