Welington Castillo landed on the disabled list again on Tuesday. And the injury that was downplayed as a sore back following Sunday’s game, in which he was lifted in the fourth inning, was brushed off again on Tuesday. Castillo was placed on the 15-day DL with left rib cage inflammation, not an oblique injury which is the good news. Castillo said he felt “something pop in there” after his first at bat on Sunday. Castillo had an MRI that revealed the strain in the rib cage. He’s hoping to not be out any longer than two weeks.
Rick Renteria does not think Castillo’s injury will “be a long-term situation.”
Welington Castillo has been inconsistent at best this season, both offensively and defensively. Castillo is one of the players the Cubs needed to see take a step forward this year. Castillo has had issues with staying on the field throughout his professional career. The team and Castillo really need for this injury to be only two weeks on the shelf so the many questions about him can start being answered, one way or the other.
While Castillo is on the DL, Renteria plans to mix and match with John Baker and Eli Whiteside. Baker figures to catch a majority of the games with Whiteside facing lefties, unless Jason Hammel is that day’s starter.
Jose Veras and the Bullpen
The Cubs designated RHP Jose Veras for assignment on Tuesday and was not able to sign a veteran reliever in the off-season and turn him into long-term pieces for the team moving forward. Veras received $4 million in guaranteed money.
To put it simply, the front office gambled and lost.
Jed Hoyer was asked if the Cubs are done signing closers. Hoyer said, “The answer is you hope you don’t have to, because you can develop from within. The difficulty with bringing a reliever in from the outside is it’s short leash that guy’s on whereas the guy you know already might be able to do it at the end of the year and you sort of get him acclimated to that role. So I would never say never, but certainly I can hope we develop our own relievers develop our own closers.”
Hoyer said he hopes Jose Veras can get his career back on track.
After the news surfaced about the Cubs designating Veras for assignment, Rick Renteria said the team will stay with 13 pitchers for now. The team is monitoring pitch counts for the young relievers they do not want to exceed.
Minor News and Notes
Kris Bryant went 1-for-2 with a home run and two walks on Tuesday night. Bryant hit his 19th home run of the season and improved to .353/.460/.700 for the season with a 1.160 OPS. Over last 10 games, .424/.578/1.030/1.608 with two doubles, six home runs, 12 walks and 10 strikeouts.
INF Wes Darvill was sent from Double-A Tennessee to High-A Daytona
Dylan Bundy and Hunter Harvey
The Cubs are believed to be interested in RHP Dylan Bundy in a possible deal with the Orioles for Jeff Samardzija. Bundy threw four perfect innings Tuesday in an extended Spring Training game against the Twins. Bundy stayed in for two additional batters after his scheduled four innings to build up his pitch count and gave up a hit in the fifth. Bundy struck out six batters and threw 56 pitches. Bundy’s fastball sat at 91-93 mph and touched 94 mph according to a report from Roch Kubatko.
Bundy is scheduled to pitch on Monday in an Intrasquad game in Sarasota. Bundy is expected to pitch five innings.
The other prospect in Baltimore’s system that has been connected to the Cubs is Hunter Harvey. And the Orioles named him its Minor League Pitcher of the Month for May on Tuesday.
This Day In Cubstory
2004 – Cubs hit the million mark in attendance, the quickest in franchise history. Mark Prior made his first start of the season, pitched six scoreless innings in a 2-1 loss to the Pirates.
2002 – Cubs selected Billy Petrick in the third round of the draft
2002 – A’s selected John Baker in the fourth round of the draft
2002 – Cubs selected Rich Hill in the fourth round of the draft
2002 – Cubs selected Adam Greenberg in the fourth round of the draft
2002 – Cubs selected Micah Hoffpauir in the 13th round of the draft
2002 – Cubs selected Rock Cherry in the 14th round of the draft
2002 – Cubs selected Randy Wells in the 38th round of the draft
1996 – Cubs selected Chad Meyers in the fifth round of the draft
1996 – Cubs selected Kyle Lohse in the 29th round of the draft
1990 – Cubs selected Lance Nixon in the first round (23rd overall pick) of the draft
1990 – Cubs selected Pedro Valdes in the 12th round of the draft
1984 – Cubs selected Drew Hall in the first round (third overall pick) of the draft
1984 – Cubs selected Greg Maddux in the second round of the draft
1984 – Cubs selected Dwight Smith in the third round of the draft
1984 – Cubs selected Dave Liddell in the fourth round of the draft
1984 – Cubs selected Jamie Moyer in the sixth round of the draft
1984 – Cubs selected Jeff Pico in the 13th round of the draft
1981 – Cubs purchased Bobby Bonds from the Texas Rangers. In his first game with the Cubs, Bonds tripped on a seam in the field at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, broke a bone in his right hand and was placed on the 21-day DL
1976 – Chang-Yong Lim, born
1970 – Cubs selected Tom Lundstedt in the first round (17th overall pick) of the draft
1970 – Cubs selected Gene Hiser in the first round (19th overall pick) of the draft
1970 – Cubs selected Rick Reuschel in the third round of the draft
1967 – Scott Servais, born
1967 – Rick Wilkins, born
1966 – Ron Santo homered twice in a 6-4 victory over the Reds
1953 – After batting practice at Forbes Field, the Cubs and Pirates announced a big trade. Cubs traded pitcher Bob Schultz, catcher Toby Atwell, first baseman Preston Ward, third baseman George Freese, outfielders Bob Addis and Gene Hermanski plus an estimated $150,000 to Pittsburgh for pitcher Howie Pollet, catcher Joe Garagiola and outfielders Catfish Metkovich and Ralph Kiner. Cubs lost 6-1 to Pittsburgh, Kiner went 1-for-4 with a double.
1950 – Ernie Banks made his professional debut with the Kansas City Monarchs. Banks went 3-for-7 in a doubleheader against the Memphis Red Sox.
1929 – Rogers Hornsby, Hack Wilson and Charlie Grimm hit home runs in the fifth inning of a 10-9 victory over the Giants at Wrigley Field