Let play 2! And add a guy to the roster!

The Cubs and Brewers will both be able to add a 27th man to their roster for the double-header, and for the Cubs, this could mean the Jameson Taillon could be added without sending anyone down — at least for a day.

However, with the Cubs’ bullpen being needed for 5 full innings on Sunday, I could see an additional roster move to bring in some relief help. And even if Taillon is back, tomorrow, I would not expect he or Cade Horton to go really long in their respective games.

After a terrible outing on July 29th, Porter Hodge has been good in August, giving up 5 hits and no runs with 11 strikeout over 7.1 innings. The only concern would be that he’s also giving up 6 walks, including 5 over his last 2 appearances.

Jordan Wicks is another guy who makes some sense to bring up if the Cubs need innings. In his last 4 games, he’s gone 4, 4.1, 4.2 and 2.1 innings, allowing only 3 earned runs.

There are several other options for pitchers on the 40-man roster, if they want to bring a player up including To Cosgrove, Gavin Hollowell, Luke Little, Nate Pearson or Ethan Roberts.

The tricky part is that the Cubs would need to send someone to AAA to add more than one player. So, if they add Taillon, they would need to option someone to add a 2nd player. And if Taillon stays on the roster after Monday (which he will), someone on the current roster would need to be sent down.

4 Cubs pitchers have options:
-Cade Horton
-Javier Assad
-Daniel Palencia
-Ben Brown

Ben Brown, who just pitched 2.2 innings on Sunday, would seem to be the logical choice. With Taillon coming back, I think Javier Assad would shift to the long reliever role, taking Brown’s spot.

The other concern right now is Daniel Palencia, who did not feature in save opportunities the last two games against the Pirates. Counsell said he was under the weather on Saturday, so I’m assuming he was still recovering on Sunday. But if this illness lingers, they might have to consider a roster move with so many games in such a short time.

My roster guess, Brown sent down, Taillon activated, Wicks brough up as player 27. Porter Hodge ay have to wait until September 1, when roster expand, to come up. And where does Michael Soroka fit into these plans? Time will tell.