HOUSTON – The Cubs’ back-to-back blowout losses in Minnesota led to a series of roster moves Monday, as the club reinforced its taxed bullpen.
The Cubs optioned right-hander Hayden Wesneski and put veteran reliever Brad Boxberger on the 15-day injured list with what the team called a right forearm strain.
They recalled Jeremiah Estrada and selected right-hander Nick Burdi from Triple-A Iowa. To make room on the 40-man roster for Burdi, the Cubs transferred Adrian Sampson (right meniscus) from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL.
The moves sent a young pitcher down a level to hone his execution, raised timeline questions about the health of a veteran, gave a rookie another chance to showcase his stuff, and wrote another chapter in reliever’s journey back from injury.
Wesneski won his spot in the Opening Day rotation with a strong spring performance, but he’s had an up-and-down season so far.
“It’s more about the need that we have right now, with a couple guys in the bullpen not 100%,” manager David Ross said, “and trying to have him go down and get a little reset. And I’m sure he’ll be back real soon.”
Wesneski had just started to hit his stride, recording three straight starts of five or more innings and one run allowed in each, when he tossed a clunker in Minnesota, contributing to the Cubs’ bullpen conundrum.
“This happened, right?” president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said. “He has [minor-league] options. He’s young. But he’s going be up here, he’s going to make a lot of starts for us this year. And he’ll be here for a long time. So there’s no real level of concern whatsoever. I just think he needs to execute a little better.”
Wesneski’s demotion doesn’t necessarily mean that veteran right-hander Kyle Hendricks (strained right shoulder) will be replacing him right away. Hendricks threw five-plus innings in his rehab start Sunday, building up to 79 pitches. And he’s been effective in two outings since returning to Chicago last week to tweak his mechanics in a bullpen session.
“Unclear on the exact date or anything,” Hoyer said of Hendricks’ return, “but he’s going the right direction.”
The Cubs have off days on Thursday and next Monday, so they don’t need a fifth starter yet.
Hendricks will likely throw another bullpen session in Chicago before making his next start, which is expected to be another rehab outing, barring any developments that would push up the timeline.
Boxberger’s timeline is also up in the air. He kicked off the season strong but has been struggling lately, posting a 9.64 ERA in the month of May. He has been dealing with multiple ailments throughout the season, Ross revealed Monday.
“He had some groin stuff going on, where some mechanical issues kind of creeped in,” Ross said.
After Boxberger righted the mechanical slippage, his forearm issue emerged. Boxberger told the Sun-Times he started feeling soreness about two or three weeks ago.
“Then it kind of snowballed a little bit,” he said. “but I’m back on the right track, just got to get over this little speed bump.”
If Boxberger doesn’t feel better after a couple days of rest, Hoyer said, the Cubs will “probably look at it more closely.”
With Boxberger out, Estrada makes his second big-league stint of the season. He impressed last year with the life on his fastball. When the Cubs recalled him Monday, he had yet to give up a run in three appearances this year.
“We all know how special the fastball is, and he’s done a really good job of executing that in the locations he needs to,” bullpen coach Chris Young told the Sun-Times. “And I think the breaking balls keep getting better. It seems like every time he comes back up, the breaking balls are a little bit better.”
Burdi has taken a unique path back to the big-leagues. He made 16 appearances for the Pirates between 2018 and 2020 but underwent his second Tommy John surgery after the 2020 season. Pittsburgh designated him for assignment weeks later.
In the minor-league phase of the Rule 5 Draft this winter, the Cubs selected Burdi from the Padres in the second round.
“He’s always had an incredible arm, going back to [the University of] Louisville,” Hoyer said. “He throws 100, and it was about health and about strikes, and he’s done both those things really well for us.”