Cubs Roster Update: Felix Pena Recalled, Zac Rosscup Back to Iowa

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but the Cubs called a guy up, pitched him in a game the same night, then immediately sent him back to Iowa. This certainly isn’t the first time the Cubs — or any MLB team, for that matter — has streamed pitchers like a fantasy baseball team trying to pile up as many innings as possible. It is a little interesting that these guys are pitching right away and then going right back; the timing and necessity has converged oddly.

The latest move came Tuesday afternoon when the Cubs announced that righty Felix Pena had been recalled to Chicago with lefty Zac Rosscup heading back to Iowa after appearing in Monday’s loss. I had actually thought they’d leave Rosscup around a little longer with the Dodgers, a team that doesn’t hit lefties well, coming up. Alas, that is not the case.

Pena hasn’t exactly shown out at the big league level, though he’s only pitched 14.0 innings over 13 appearances. I wouldn’t expect him to stay around much longer, though the recency of the other moves means Rosscup and Dylan Floro — fellow shuttle riders — remain in Iowa for another week and a half.

Of course, this is all going on while Justin Grimm remains in Iowa. He was looking good there for a minute. After allowing just a single hit over 4.0 innings in his first three appearances, though, Grimm came on to close out a 4-3 Iowa lead and recorded two outs before the wheels fell off. A double, walk, single, and homer later, the I-Cubs were down 7-4. Woof. So maybe Grimmer’s got a little more to work out.

One way or the other, we can expect the moves to continue when Brett Anderson is reactivated from the DL. As of post time, he had either not thrown his schedule bullpen or there had not yet been reports on how it went. If all goes according to plan, he’ll embark on a rehab assignment and might force Pena back to Iowa.