Cubs place RHP John Lackey on 15-Day DL with right shoulder strain … Cubs place RHP Hector Rondon on 15-Day DL with right triceps strain … Cubs select contracts of LHP Rob Zastryzny and RHP Felix Pena from Triple-A Iowa … Cubs transfer RHP Dallas Beeler and RHP Aaron Brooks from 15- to 60-Day DL
The Cubs announced several roster moves Friday and placed two key contributors to the Major League pitching staff on the 15-day disabled list.
The Cubs placed John Lackey and Hector Rondon on the 15-day disabled list. Lackey is retroactive to Monday (Aug. 15) and Rondon is retroactive to Wednesday (Aug. 17). Lackey and Rondon traveled with the team to Denver after undergoing MRIs on Thursday.
The MRIs did not reveal anything unexpected with Lackey and Rondon. Lackey was placed on the DL with a right shoulder strain and Rondon landed on the disabled list with a triceps strain. The Cubs are viewing both moves as precautionary at this point but if both pitchers, especially Rondon, had continued to pitch the injuries may have become more of an issue.
According to multiple reports, neither Lackey nor Rondon had setbacks. The Cubs are trying to get both pitchers healthy for later in the season and in October.
The Cubs selected the contracts of LHP Rob Zastryzny and RHP Felix Pena from Triple-A Iowa. Zastryzny and Pena were added to the 40-man roster and called up.
Both Felix Pena, who will wear uniform number 60, and Rob Zastryzny, who will wear uniform number 29, join the first Major League roster of their careers and will be available for the Cubs tonight when they begin their three-game series against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.
Zastryzny and Pena will pitch out of the bullpen, for now. The Cubs plan on sticking with Mike Montgomery and Trevor Cahill on Saturday and Jason Hammel on Sunday against the Rockies. The Cubs will start Jon Lester, Jake Arrieta and Kyle Hendricks for the three games in San Diego. The Cubs have not indicated the plans for the for the Dodgers series.
With Friday’s roster moves, the Cubs 25-man roster consists of 13 pitchers (four starters, nine relievers) and 12 position players.
The Cubs transferred RHP Aaron Brooks and RHP Dallas Beeler to the 60-day DL. And with the four roster moves, the Cubs 40-man roster stands at 39 players.
Aaron Brooks has not pitched in a game since July 4. Brooks has been on the DL the entire season with a hip contusion and was sent on a rehab assignment to the Iowa Cubs on June 9.
In five games, four starts, with Triple-A Iowa, Brooks was 1-1 with a 7.71 ERA and 1.65 WHIP.
Dallas Beeler has also been on the disabled list the entire season. Beeler has been dealing with right shoulder inflammation. Beeler was sent on a rehab assignment to Iowa on June 3. Beeler has not appeared in a game since June 27.
In eight relief appearances this season with Triple-A Iowa, Beeler was 2-0 with a 4.15 ERA and 1.15 WHIP.
Felix Pena, 26, is 3-4 with three saves and a 3.41 ERA (24 earned runs in 63 1/3 innings) in 36 relief appearances with Iowa this season. He has struck out 81 batters and walked only 23 in 63 1/3 innings pitched, good for 11.5 strikeouts per nine innings and a 3.5 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Pena has posted a 1.09 WHIP and limited opponents to a .203 batting average, including a .217 mark by right-handed hitters and a .180 mark by left-handed hitters. He has a 2.89 ERA (six earned runs in 18 2/3 innings) in 10 relief outings since the Triple-A All-Star Break.
The 6-foot-2, 185-pound Pena originally signed with the Cubs as a non-drafted free agent on March 9, 2009 out of San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic. He is only three seasons removed from spending the entire 2013 with Low-A Kane County, where he earned mid-season All-Star honors, before moving on to earn mid-season All-Star honors with High-A Daytona in 2014 and Double-A Tennessee in 2015. Overall, Pena is 29-39 with seven saves and a 3.79 ERA (265 earned runs in 628 2/3 innings) in 179 minor league appearances (78 starts) covering eight minor league seasons.
Rob Zastryzny, 24, has combined to go 10-5 with a 4.31 ERA (65 earned runs in 135 2/3 innings) in 24 outings, all but one as a starter, between Tennessee and Iowa this season. He began the season by making nine starts with Double-A Tennessee (3-2, 4.28 ERA) before earning his first promotion to Iowa on May 24 and going 7-3 with a 4.33 ERA in 15 Triple-A appearances (14 starts). With Iowa, Zastryzny limited foes to a .229 batting average, including a .190 mark to left-handed hitters, and has gone 3-0 with a 2.25 ERA (five earned runs in 20 innings) in his last four outings, fanning 25 in 20.0 innings.
The 6-foot-3, 205-pound Zastryzny was originally selected by the Cubs in the second round of the 2013 Draft out of the University of Missouri. Like Pena, Zastryzny is only two seasons removed from High-A Daytona. Overall, Zastryzny is 17-16 with a 4.60 ERA (171 earned runs in 334 1/3 innings) in 73 minor league appearances, including 68 starts, in four minor league campaigns.