The Cubs made three additions to the active roster on Sunday, the first day big league teams could expand their rosters and call-up players from the 40-man roster.
The Cubs activated Ryan Sweeney and Luis Valbuena from the disabled list and called-up RHP Alberto Cabrera from Triple-A Iowa to spend the final month of the season in the pen. The Cubs are not expected to make another round of call-ups until Iowa’s season concludes on Monday. J.C. Boscan, Dave Sappelt, Brooks Raley and Justin Grimm will likely be added to the Cubs’ active roster in the coming days.
Two players that will not be with the big league team this September are Josh Vitters and Brett Jackson. According to a report from Carrie Muskat, Vitters and Jackson were not part of the conversations of which players would be called up in September. Vitters and Jackson have dealt with various injuries since Spring Training and have lost a year of development in the process.
Dale Sveum addressed the team’s decision to not call-up Vitters and Jackson this September. Sveum said, “Things have changed a great deal with them missing so much time this year. The player-development part of this year has been pretty much lost for both of them. It’ll be a wait-and-see thing this winter.”
Josh Vitters and Brett Jackson are on the Cubs’ 40-man roster and both players have minor league options remaining after this season. Vitters has one more minor league option year left while Jackson has two.
Before Josh Vitters was shut down for the remainder of the season, Iowa manager Marty Pevey said he would like to see Vitters play winter ball because he needs to the time on the field. Vitters produced when he was able to play this season. In 28 games with the I-Cubs, Vitters together a .295/.380/.511 slash line with four doubles and five home runs for a .891 OPS.
Brett Jackson has struggled this year and has not hit. Jackson started the season with the I-Cubs but after 61 games, he was sent to Double-A Tennessee to help regain his confidence. In 93 games this season between the AZL Cubs, Iowa and Tennessee, Jackson managed a .208/.295/.327 line with 10 doubles, five triples and six home runs with a .622 OPS. In 361 plate appearances, Jackson has struck out 120 times.
The front office appears willing to let the off-season serve as a reset button for several players in the system and that would be a good course of action to take with Vitters and Jackson. Both players still have time to develop, the Cubs and the fan base just need be patient with both former first round draft picks.