Cubs Activate Jordan Wicks for Sunday Start, Recall Miles Mastrobuoni as Rosters Expand

Gone are the days of rosters expanding to 760 players in September, but teams are allowed to carry 28 over the last month of the season. For the Cubs, that means activating Jordan Wicks to expand the rotation and recalling Miles Mastrobuoni to lengthen the bench. Because Wicks was on the 60-day IL, the Cubs had to make a corresponding move to create room on the 40-man roster.

Rather than part ways with anyone, they recalled Nick Madrigal and placed him on the 60-day IL with a left pinky fracture. This feels like delaying the inevitable, as it’s very difficult to imagine Madrigal maintaining a spot in the organization once the season ends and his IL designation goes away. Between Isaac Paredes, Matt Shaw, and James Triantos, there’s just no way to keep a light-hitting utility infielder whose hit tool hasn’t materialized. Even if the Cubs make the unlikely decision to move forward sans Paredes, those two prospects carry more than enough value to push Madrigal out.

Wicks has been out since mid June with an oblique issue that took a while to clear up, but he’s made a few rehab starts and would have been on regular rest for another one on Friday for Triple-A Iowa. Instead, the Cubs scratched him in order to stretch the rotation a bit and push Jameson Taillon back a day to open the series against the Pirates at Wrigley on Monday. That would allow Justin Steele to take Tuesday’s game with extra rest due to last Thursday’s break and Shōta Imanaga to start the finale, skipping Kyle Hendricks‘turn.

Then again, it seems like a much better idea to let Hendricks take the Wednesday game against the Pirates on six days’ rest and have Imanaga open against the Yankees with the same break. The Cubs hinted in the offseason at working with a modified rotation in order to give Imanaga a little extra rest and they can easily do so now that Wicks is healthy. Giving Hendricks more time between starts would probably be in his and the team’s best interest as well.

The Mastrobuoni move is a little harder to explain, even considering he’s already on the 40-man and has positional versatility. The 28-year-old has a 41 wRC+ and -0.2 fWAR over 98 plate appearances on the season, meaning he’s statistically worse than a replacement player. While it would certainly be a lot more fun and exciting to see Shaw or Triantos in Chicago — and I’d wager both could produce at a higher level offensively — this is simply a procedural move.