Roster Update: Matusz Axed, Additional Roster Move Pending (UPDATE: Patton Recalled)
According to a report by the Chicago Tribune, Brian Matusz has been released by the Chicago Cubs. And, really, this is no surprise.
His debut on Sunday night went about as bad as it could have. In the first inning alone he gave up one single, one hit-by-pitch, two walks, one wild pitch and a two-run home run. He’d go on to give up a two-run home run in both the second and third innings as well.
Fortunately for the Cubs, they staged a tremendously awesome comeback and won the game in 12 innings. Unfortunately for Brian Matusz, there’s no way to erase his poor outing from our memory and there’s no chance Joe Maddon is going to risk something like that happening again.
As for the corresponding roster move, right now we don’t have any information on who the Cubs will recall to fill Matusz’ spot on the 25-man roster. My guess is that it will likely be a pitcher, since the bullpen got worked pretty hard last night. We do know that it won’t be Justin Grimm. He’s not eligible to return for 10 days from yesterday, when he was sent down. The exception to that rule is if their is an injury.
We will keep an eye out on that pending roster move and update you as soon as we find out.
UPDATE: Word is that the Cubs are calling up reliever Spencer Patton to help supplement the bullpen. This is Patton’s third call-up in the 2016 season. He’s had limited success while sporting a 5.11 ERA over 12.1 innings pitched with the Cubs this year.
The key to this move is that he’s already on the 40-man roster and with a lot in flux right now – Jorge Soler’s impending return, possible deadline trade(s), Clayton Richard’s status after being DFA’d, etc.) – the Cubs are doing good to wait for things to settle before jiggering the 40-man. At least that’s my thought on the matter…
Source: Cubs calling up RHP Spencer Patton from Triple-A.
— Robert Murray (@RobertMurrayFRS) August 1, 2016
