According to multiple reports, the Cubs recalled LHP Chris Rusin from Triple-A Iowa on Saturday morning and optioned RHP Brian Schlitter to Iowa. The roster move should not come as a surprise with the Cubs adding Rusin to the big league roster. Rusin will be available out of the pen for Saturday’s game and should replace Carlos Villanueva in the rotation until Jake Arrieta is ready to join the rotation toward the end of the month. Villanueva should be moved to the pen and work as the Cubs’ long reliever and swingman.
After a bad first start against Memphis on April 3 in which he allowed five runs on six hits with four walks and two strikeouts, Chris Rusin held the Nashville Sounds to three runs, two earned, on seven hits with no walks and five strikeouts over six innings his last time out.
Brian Schlitter was a late addition to the pen in the spring and threw rather well until he faced the Pirates on Thursday afternoon. In six games (5 2/3 innings), Schlitter allowed four runs, three earned, with two walks and one strikeout.
Until Rusin is moved into the rotation, the Cubs will have three lefties in the pen. And it would not come as a surprise if the Cubs made another move before the end of the weekend to pull another reliever up to take James Russell’s spot in the pen. And then there is Wesley Wright. Wright warmed up on Friday night but was not used again.