The Cubs optioned left-handers Rex Brothers and Justin Steele to alternate site South Bend as rosters had to be trimmed from 30 to 28. MLB and the MLBPA agreed on Thursday to keep rosters at 28 the remainder of the 2020 regular season and postseason and expand team taxi squads from three to five players.
Originally, there would have been an additional roster trim from 28 to 26 in two weeks.
The Cubs also signed right-hander Kelvin Herrera and left-hander Matt Dermody to minor-league deals on Thursday and assigned both to South Bend.
Hererra, 30, was designated for assignment by the White Sox on Wednesday. The right-hander struggled on the South Side going 3-3 with a 6.54 ERA in 59 appearances for the Sox. Dermody was pitching for the Sugar Land Skeeters of the Independent League this season and was having success. The southpaw was 2-0 with a 0.52 ERA in five games (four starts) before signing with Chicago.
“We’re gonna keep adding players to the secondary site,” general manager Jed Hoyer said on Saturday. “We’re gonna keep taking a look at different guys and I think things have gone well, but it’s obvious that depth is incredibly important, especially in the bullpen. … We’re going to continue to add arms to add players to South Bend. We want to make sure that we have the right amount of depth and that’s something that has unfortunately, needed to be utilized more than ever before.”
The Cubs’ 60-man player pool is now full at 60 players.
Quintana completes two-inning sim game
Left-hander José Quintana is getting closer to returning and cleared one of his final hurdles Thursday as he threw a two-inning sim game in South Bend. Quintana threw 35 pitches over two innings. He will now be on his normal five-day routine and throw a bullpen on Saturday.
“I watched his outing. Everything looked clean, got all his pitches in,” manager David Ross said. “I saw a mix of the changeup, cutter, the breaking ball and the fastball. He was throwing all four pitches today. So that’s all that’s a positive.”
Scheduling changes
The Cubs have a pair of scheduling changes in their upcoming games. Thursday’s game vs. the Brewers was scheduled to start at 3:05 p.m., it has been selected for a national exclusive telecast by FOX and will now begin at 6:15 p.m. CT.
The Cubs and Reds will also make up their rainout from July 30 as part of a traditional doubleheader featuring two seven-inning games on Saturday, Aug. 29. Game 1 will begin at 3:10 P.M. CT.
