Chicago Cubs call up Dan Straily, option Junior Lake to AAA
By Mike Marteny
The Chicago Cubs have called up pitcher Dan Straily from AAA Iowa. He will start tonight’s game against the New York Mets at CitiField.
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Straily was acquired from the Oakland Athletics on July 4th along with Addison Russell and Billy McKinney for Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel. Straily was 1-2 with a 4.93 ERA in seven starts with Oakland in April and early May before his demotion to the minors.
He has pitched rather well in the minors for the Iowa Cubs, putting together a 3-3 record with a 3.00 ERA in seven starts. He also sports a 40:13 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
The Cubs sent outfielder Junior Lake to AAA Iowa in the corresponding roster move. Lake is hitting just .216 on the season, but does have nine homers, seven steals, and 25 RBI in 291 at bats.
The promotion may be short-lived for Straily, no matter the outcome of tonight’s game. Cubs manager Rick Renteria confirmed through MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat that the plan is for Straily to head back down after his start tonight.
The Cubs did not remove anyone from their rotation, they just wanted to give all their starters an extra day of rest.
Straily likely will be back in Chicago soon enough though. He should be back when the rosters expand to 40 players on September 1st.
Opposing Straily will be the Mets’ Jon Niese for the 7:05 eastern first pitch. Niese is 6-8 on the season with a 3.46 ERA and 1.27 WHIP. He has hit a bit of a rough patch lately, winning just one game since June 28th.