MILWAUKEE — The Cubs on Saturday optioned struggling right-hander Carl Edwards Jr. to Class AAA Iowa, just seven games into the Cubs’ worst start of a season since 1997.
The Cubs also put struggling Mike Montgomery on the 10-day injured list because of a “mild lat strain.” He had missed time early in spring training because of shoulder soreness, and this could be related.
The Montgomery move is considered a precaution to head off potential worse injury.
Left-hander Kyle Ryan was recalled and right-hander Allen Webster selected from Class AAA Iowa to join the bullpen for tonight’s game in Milwaukee. They were the last two pitchers cut from big-league camp this spring.
Edwards, who got the first two outs of the 10th inning of Game 7 in the 2016 World Series as a rookie, gave up a two-run homer to the first of three batters he faced in a 13-10 loss to the Brewers on Friday night.
The pitcher with one of the best arms among the relief corps had struggled with command late last season, too, and after adopting a new hesitation/toe tap in his delivery during the spring was told by MLB after the season began that the new move was illegal.
He walked both batters he faced in Atlanta the night before and has retired only five of 13 batters faced in four appearances so far this season. He’s only one in a bullpen full of pitchers who have struggled so far, producing a collective 8.89 ERA so far with three blown saves in three chances by three different pitchers.
Edwards has been one of the Cubs’ best relievers the last two years, with a 2.81 ERA and 12.2 strikeouts per nine innings (5.3 walks) over 131 appearances in that span.
To make room on the 40-man roster for Webster, the Cubs designed Jen-Ho Tseng for assignment.
