The Cubs made the first round of September call-ups on Sunday morning. The Cubs activated OF Ryan Sweeney from the 60-day DL and added him to the active roster as expected. Luis Valbuena was activated from the 15-day DL and RHP Alberto Cabrera was recalled from Triple-A Iowa. To make room on the 40-man roster for Ryan Sweeney, RHP Eduardo Sanchez was designated for assignment.
The Cubs 40-man roster currently stands at 40 players with Sunday’s roster moves and the Cubs active roster stands at 28 players with more call-ups expected in the coming days.
Ryan Sweeney has been on the DL since June 30 with a fractured left rib. Sweeney was hitting rather well for the Cubs before he landed on the disabled list. In 44 games, Sweeney put together a .295/.342/.527 slash line with 10 doubles, four triples and four home runs for a .868 OPS. The Cubs have said that Sweeney will see a lot of playing time over the final month of the year.
Luis Valbuena was not expected to be activated from the DL on Sunday. Recent reports suggested that Valbuena needed more time to recover from the right oblique strain that landed him on the DL on August 4. Valbuena should see time at multiple positions over the last month of the season to see if he can provide depth off the bench next season. Valbuena is arbitration eligible in the off-season after being paid $930,000 in his first year of arbitration eligibility this season.
Alberto Cabrera had a tremendous season with the Smokies but struggled after being promoted to Triple-A Iowa. Cabrera was 9-3 in 18 games as a starter for Double-A Tennessee with a 3.20 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP (107 strikeouts, 39 walks, 102 hits in 112 2/3 innings). But in Iowa as a reliever, 1-3 with a 7.08 ERA and a 1.87 WHIP in 15 games (19 strikeouts, 12 walks, 26 hits in 20 1/3 innings). Cabrera is out of options after this year and the Cubs have to decide the best way to use him prior to next season.