The Cubs announced today that they have activated reliever Brandon Kintzler from the injured list and recalled infielder Addison Russell. In corresponding moves, outfielder Albert Almora and reliever James Norwood were optioned. (Via Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune; Twitter links.)
It’s good news for the Chicago organization that Kintzler is already prepared to return from a pectoral injury. He looked like a financial weight around the team’s neck heading into the offseason, but has turned out to be a key steadying presence in the relief corps. He has thrown 46 1/3 innings of 2.33 ERA ball this year.
Russell is back after struggling in his return to the majors earlier this year. Since his demotion, Russell has been on a bit of a hot streak, even by the standards of the contemporary offensive haven of Triple-A. In 63 plate appearances over 15 games, he’s slashing .333/.413/.647.
Meanwhile, the decision to drop Almora comes after a long run of offensive difficulty. He’s slashing just .243/.275/.396 this year. His glovework has trended down as well, at least in the eyes of UZR and DRS, leaving him as a sub-replacement-level overall performer on the season. Almora has already crossed the line to 3+ years of MLB service, so he’ll be eligible for arbitration at season’s end. He’ll need to get to work on his offensive game if he’s to regain his standing with the organization.
Plot twist eh
Cubs blow another 9th inning lead!!!
Ha ha!
2-2 in Pit!!!
Cubs lose! Cubs lose! Cubs lose!
Fly the “L”!!!!
Send Kintzler back to IL.
You’re way too obsessed about the Cubs losing.
So says the guy whose team is 18.5 games out and the third team in a two team city….
Almora should’ve been in Iowa a while ago.
Quite possibly one of the worst offensive players in baseball right now.
This is gonna get interesting
Sox suck
No one mentioned the Sox, you illiterate moron.
Cubs are quitters.
Ricky’s boys don’t quit!!
That’s quality trolling right there Banesays.
Sox suck
The Sox are trying to suck. What’s the cubs’ excuse? $200MM+ roster salary and the worst road record in the NL.
Sox have a better road record then the Cubs.
*than
Whatever Doofus
The Sox do suck, the Cubs are still in first place. To most of the universe the Cubs tried to suck in 2013 and 2014–guess what? The Sox were worse then. Within two years the Cubs won the World Series—-not because they sucked, because Theo and Jed built a winner. A collective five/six years later the Sox still can’t sniff .500.
Cubs in 2nd place, idiot, and 2nd WC team to be quickly eliminated.
They should pray they make it that far this season.
However, Cincy gonna pass them up.
Cubs to 4th place real soon!!
Sox tried to get machado by signing his in laws and friends. And they still didn’t offer him the MOST guaranteed money. Ricky’s boys don’t quit? Funny. Maybe if that were the case he’d been a WS manager in ‘16.
Of course you know this from your years of personal experience working in the White Sox front office.
Kinzler will help – the other move(s) Almora for Russell – nothing at all resembles this is a good move other than back up for a SS if Javy is out. Neither Russell or Almora (this year) is worth having a roster spot taken.
Kintzler no help last night.
They are flying the “L” flag at his house!!!
After last night does it really matter. Worst loss in years. Major changes are on the way.
They win last night if russell@ second base gets both the balls off happy glove
Or even better—-if Baez is a short and not sick. It was the Bote error that contributed to that inning a bunch more than the two grounders off Happ’s glove.
MJ would have played.
Baez is weak.
They win last night if Russell is at second instead of Happ.
I thought bote made an error. I didn’t watch the game was just flipping and I saw he made an error in the 9th
Bote did make the error. Happ had two very similar groundballs hit to him in the bottom of the 9th. He left his feet both times and both clanged off his glove. Both were scored hits. Looked to me like either should have been playable by a second baseman with average range at the position. Combined with the
dropped pop up Wednesday night, Happ should never, ever play 2b. Russell improves the defense and as was noted is a good backup at short for Baez. He does drag down the still broken offense (no, Theo, I didn’t forget your broken offense comment).
BULLCRAP!
Exactly. Wrong guy getting sent down here. Happ cost the Cubs that game, booted 2 game-ending double plays in a row. Actually, they should ship Maddon out, leaving Happ out there. What ever happened to defensive replacements in the 9th inning?
There was no one to put at second base. They already used Kemp. Bote was the on,y other choice and he was at short. The Cubs were weak up the middle all game. Add that error and two balls to second to Strop hitting a batter and a 99% win turns into a loss.
The balls hit to Happ were not sure-fire double play balls where he was positioned but they should have been outs.
Javy was scratched due to an illness.
Weak!
Hungover maybe.
Maybe that’s why the road woes!
This terrible trolling is all you have going in your life, eh?
Yep!!
Yuk yuk yuk yuk!
I watch a lot of baseball. Every team has bad losses. It seems like the Cubs have a lot of them. A loss is a loss until you lose like last night. No team with a road record like the Cubs can be considered a WS contender.
Well, if this is hitting bottom, I say it’s looking good from here on. Weekend series in Pittsburgh, and then back hiome for 15 of the next 18.
0-1 so far this weekend
Can’t necessarily say that. In 1987, the Minnesota Twins had a 29-52 record on the road. Who won the World Series that year?? Hmmmm — The Twins
Cubs need to get and anything can happen
Not trying to tick any cub fans off or turn this into a cubs/Sox debate but man that team is an absolute mess lately. The division is pretty much there for the taking and nobody seems to want it.
Yeah most other Cub fans think Im crazy but after last year, I’ve been saying it’s time to shake things up.
This team is an underperforming mess. They keep trying to slap on Band-Aids: Quintana, Darvish, Wade Davis, Kimbrel, Castellanos- none of them are the answer.
Time to trade away Kris Bryant and/or Javy Baez and/or Willson Contreras to restock the barren farm. Theo & Co have done a terrible job drafting and signing since they started winning games. No pitching coming thru the system whatsoever.
Definitely need to see what teams will give for guys like Almora, Schwarber, Russell, Happ etc., it wont be much but hopefully could land some power arms for the bullpen and maybe a strong potential starter or two.
Time to reshuffle the deck and let some bad/ large contracts expire.
They could still keep some guys like Rizzo and try to extend them even further if convinced they are worthy of re-building around. Bote, Rizzo, maybe make a large but reasonable offer to Baez or Bryant to see if they’re interested in staying in Chicago. Then bring in fresh young talent…and FFS some power pitching.
Nope, they will ride it out until they wring out two years ofcontrol of Bryant, Baez, Rizzo.
I could see them maybe dangle Contreras. Caratini and another good defensive catcher could probably handle the job.
Cubs have always traded away talented catchers, so it’s doubtful Willson will be around long term.
Yes trade Javy while his value is high, Cubs always have shortstops/secondbasemen coming up the system. Cheapest way to get some arms is move Javy.
Happ was out of position by a step or so. How much did he play there recently? Maybe the coaches should have moved him based on the stats showing where the logical place the ball is going. Tough break on both ground balls going off the glove.
Love the game last night. Awesome!
I’m sorry I missed it, I was watching my new favorite national league team the Reds beat the Cardinals
Hope your watching tonight. Your new favorite team is losing 6 to 0.
Make that 12 to 0!
Well I’m a Sox fan. As with them I’m looking at the big picture. They will be good soon. Meanwhile your aging team may be the best of the worst division in baseball but next year may be different
And have fun getting swept by literally any team they face in the playoffs
Why all the hatred from Sox fans towards the Cubs. I don’t understand it. Yes, the Cubs are struggling a bit but are still tied for first place. There is no guarantee the White Sox will be good BTW. It is rare to have all your young players get good at the same time. The majority of their players with exception of Kopech and Robert are playing now and they are still struggling. When the Cubs young players came up in 2015, they won 95 games. Sox will be lucky to win 73 games.
Also, I dont necessarily agree the Cubs reside in the worst Division in baseball. Just because there is not a team within the Division that is winning at a 600 pace doesn’t make it a bad Division.
Good luck to the White Sox in the future years but dont be such haters
The button pushing continues for the Cubs. Not many more buttons left to push. This may have been Almora’s season to show the organization he’s a full time player. Hasn’t worked out that way. Almora hasn’t seemed right since the fan batted ball incident in Houston earlier this season. Not making excuses here. But the guy may still have lingering effects. Hope he gets himself right. Whatever the issue may be.
Russell is the new Happ. A few weeks ago everyone wanted him dfa; after a bad week at 2B by Happ, everyone wants Russell back. Before the season everyone hated Happ—middle of the season everyone screamed for his return.
Cubs fans are nuts (I am unfortunately one of them).
The call up wasn’t Russell for Happ. Happ’s still around. He never should be plugged in at second base again, but he’s still around. Almora has solidified the impression I’ve had of him sine about the middle of last year – good fourth or fifth outfielder as a defensive replacement type. Made sense to bring up Russell at this point only because he’s the best available candidate to back up Baez at short. The number of starts Russell gets is up tp Genius Joe. Russell makes the defense better, but adds nothing to the offense. Had Russell been dfa-ed, The Cubs roster hole would only have been worse and they would have to pick through the available leftovers – as in the Braves signing Adeiny Hechavarria today.
You are probably the only person I know that EVER wanted Russell back. He demoralizes the whole team where as Maddon only ruins the handful of players he doesn’t like. Trade Maddon for a bag of balls and hire Dave Ross.
I think Russell demoralizes you. Sorry but he’s on the team the rest of the year unless he does a boneheaded move or falls off the program they got him on.
Why haven’t Strop and Holland been DFA’d yet?
Not sure about this move. If Heyward continues to struggle with his knee, it leaves an outfield of Swarber, Castellanos, and Happ. That seems like a recipe for disaster.
Now that’s a scary thought. They would likely move Bryant and/or Kemp into the outfield to prevent that dismal situation. Those two aren’t exactly gold glovers either but not as bad as the option mentioned.
Ha, good point! That, that would…not be good.
MLB needs Russell to just go away. Don’t know how anyone in their right mind would even want to look at that P.O.S.
Cubs season can be summarized by last half inning. Down 1-0 Bryant Rizzo and Baez up, not a ball out of the infield!