Kris Bryant, Starlin Castro and the Cubs’ offense picked up the pitching staff Monday and provided a memorable win over the Rockies. What will be lost in the two comebacks Monday night are the performances turned in by Dexter Fowler and Addison Russell. Fowler singled in the ninth with one out and reached base three times. Russell looks a lot more comfortable at the plate since the break. Russell doubled in a run and turned in another web gem in the field.
Joe Maddon could have another left-handed bat on his roster in the not too distant future. INF Tommy La Stella was at Wrigley Field on Monday and worked out with the team prior to the game. According to Mark Gonzales, La Stella will stay in Chicago for a few days. La Stella is expected to begin a rehab assignment by the end of the week.
Tommy La Stella is currently on the 60-day DL with a right oblique injury.
La Stella has been on the DL since April 14 (retroactive to April 9). La Stella was sent to Double-A Tennessee for a rehab assignment on May 15. But he re-aggravated the injury that landed him on the disabled list (right rib cage inflammation). La Stella told the beat writers he is taking it slow and the Cubs are being “over cautious” with him.
The Cubs did not provide a timeframe on when he might be ready to be activated from the DL.
Edwin Jackson
The Cubs released Edwin Jackson on Monday after he cleared waivers. Jackson is now a free agent.
Edwin Jackson appeared in 23 games for the Cubs this season, all in relief. Jackson was 2-1 with a 3.19 ERA, 1.36 WHIP and 2.84 FIP. Jackson pitched mainly in mop-up duty.
During his first season with the Cubs in 2013, Jackson was 8-18 in 31 starts with a 4.98 ERA and 1.46 WHIP. Jackson was 6-15 in 28 games, 27 starts, last season. Jackson allowed 105 runs, 99 earned, on 168 hits with 123 strikeouts and 63 walks (6.33 ERA, 1.64 WHIP, 4.45 FIP).
In three years with the Cubs, Edwin Jackson posted a 16-34 record in 82 games, 58 starts, with a 5.37 ERA, 1.52 WHIP and 3.97 FIP.
The Cubs signed Edwin Jackson to a four-year, $52 million contract in January of 2013. Jackson is owed around $4.63 million for the remainder of this season and $11 million in 2016, the final year of the contract ($15.63 million total owed to Jackson).
Dallas Beeler
The Cubs announced Monday that RHP Dallas Beeler will start Tuesday night against the Rockies. Beeler will make his third start of the season in the big leagues. In two games, Beeler has allowed seven runs, five earned, on 10 hits with five walks and six strikeouts in seven innings (6.43 ERA, 2.00 WHIP).
The Cubs will have to clear a spot on the active roster prior to Tuesday’s game for Dallas Beeler.
LHP Clayton Richard has reported to Iowa and is scheduled to start Tuesday for the I-Cubs.
If the Cubs are not able to add a starter prior to the deadline, the front office has lined up three options to fill the fifth spot … Dallas Beeler, Clayton Richard and Tsuyoshi Wada.
Tsuyoshi Wada
Tsuyoshi Wada bounced back from his poor outing the last time out (six runs on eight hits in 4 1/3 innings) with a solid effort Monday against the Redbirds. Wada completed six innings and was charged with two unearned runs on four hits with a walk and six strikeouts. Wada uncorked a wild pitch and threw 85 pitches, 55 for strikes.
Wada is 1-1 in his last four rehab starts with a 3.54 ERA and 1.18 WHIP (11 runs, eight earned, on 21 hits with three walks and 14 strikeouts in 21 innings).
Iowa topped Memphis on Monday 8-3.
MLB Trades
There were two notable trades Monday, and one involved a player the Cubs had been connected to for the last month.
• The Mets acquired RHP Tyler Clippard and cash from the A’s for RHP Casey Meisner, the Mets 21st best prospect in Baseball America’s pre-season rankings. The Mets announced the deal. It is official.
• The Rockies traded SS Troy Tulowitzki and RHP LaTroy Hawkins to the Blue Jays for SS Jose Reyes, RHP Jeff Hoffman, RHP Miguel Castro and RHP Jesus Tinoco. The clubs have not announced the trade that was leaked shortly after Kris Bryant walked off the Rockies.
Trade Rumors
• INF/OF Ben Zobrist is drawing huge interest according to Jon Heyman. The Cubs are still in the running for Zobrist but so are the Pirates, Royals, Angels and Yankees. With his price going up, it is unlikely the Cubs will pay the price to land him.
• The Padres and Orioles have discussed a deal that would send Justin Upton to Baltimore. According to Jayson Stark, the deal could be expanded to include RHP Tyson Ross and/or RHP Andrew Cashner.
• The Nationals and Blue Jays are looking at Craig Kimbrel according to Jon Heyman. And the Padres asked for SS Trea Turner back from the Nationals in talks for Kimbrel.
• The Padres would like to trade for a shortstop prior to the deadline.
• The Angels, Mets, Orioles and the Mystery Team are interested in OF Gerardo Parra according to Jon Heyman.
News and Notes
• Kris Bryant’s walk-off, two-run homer Monday was the Cubs’ first walk-off homer with the team behind in the bottom of the ninth since Aramis Ramirez on June 29, 2007. Ramirez took Francisco Cordero deep that afternoon for a win over the Brewers.
• ESPN announced the network picked up the Cubs-Dodgers game on Aug. 30. The Sunday Night Baseball telecast from Dodger Stadium will begin at 7:00pm CDT (7:08pm CDT first pitch).
• Joe Maddon worked with Starlin Castro prior to Monday’s game and according to a report from Comcast SportsNet, with Cubs at a crossroads Castro goes to work.
• Kris Bryant bailed out the bullpen Monday night and changed the headlines. The Cubs are interested in Jonathan Papelbon, and there are issues with the bullpen the Cubs must figure out as ESPN Chicago reported.
• LHP Ryan Buchter was added to Iowa’s roster prior to Monday night’s game with the Redbirds. LHP Jeffry Antigua was sent to Double-A Tennessee and OF John Andreoli was activated from the DL.
• Joe Maddon addressed the Kyle Schwarber playing in the outfield question Monday. Maddon said, “You might see him out there more often as we move along.” Schwarber is working on outfield drills with Dave Martinez on the days Schwarber is not starting behind the plate.
And last, but not least, Addison Russell was the top play on ESPN SportsCenter.
This Day In Cubstory
2014 – Cubs traded Darwin Barney and cash to the Dodgers for a PTBNL. The Cubs received Jonathan Martinez from the Dodgers on July 30, 2014 to complete the trade.
2011 – Cubs traded Kosuke Fukudome and cash to the Indians for Abner Abreu and Carlton Smith
2000 – Cubs traded Brett King, Chris Hatcher and Mike Heathcott to the Angels for Brett Hinchliffe and Keith Luuloa
1998 – A day after hitting the first grand slam of his career, Sammy Sosa hit a grand slam for the second time in two days and became the 18th player in big league history to hit grand slams on consecutive days and the first Cubs player to accomplish the feat
1992 – Cubs traded a PTBNL to the Dodgers for Kal Daniels. Cubs sent Mike Sodders to the Dodgers later in the day to complete the trade.
1990 – Shawon Dunston tied a Major League record by hitting three triples in a 10-7 win over the Expos. Dunston drove in five runs.
1986 – Cubs acquired Rich Surhoff and Bryan Dial from the Rangers for Ron Merideth.
1979 – Dave Kingman hit three home runs, but the Cubs lost to the Mets 6-4 in New York. Kingman belted two home runs the night before that gave him five longballs in two days and tied a Major League record first set by Cap Anson in 1884 and tied by several other players, including Billy Williams in 1968.
1977 – Cubs beat the Reds 16-15 in a 13 innings game that lasted four hours and 50 minutes. The Cubs overcame Reds leads of 6-0, 10-8, 13-11 and 15-14 and won on a Dave Rosello RBI single. Bill Buckner, Jerry Morales, Bobby Murcer, and George Mitterwald hit home runs.
1968 – A crowd of 42,261, the largest crowd at Wrigley in 20 years, saw the Cubs go over the .500 mark (52-51) with 8-3 ad 1-0 victories over the Dodgers behind Joe Niekro and Ken Holtzman
1963 – Dick Ellsworth struck out Stan Musial three times in a Cubs 5-1 victory over the Cardinals at Wrigley Field. It was the only time ‘Stan the Man’ struck out three times in a game during his 22-year career, 3026 games.
1960 – Carmelo Martinez, born