Cubs Roster Move: Bellinger Returns, Mervis Optioned to Iowa
UPDATE: Sure enough, Cody Bellinger is back! He’s in the lineup tonight and playing first base.
That means, yes, as we kinda suspected, it’s Matt Mervis being optioned back to Triple-A Iowa to open up a spot for Bellinger. I expect Mervis’s stay at Triple-A will be of an undetermined length, as the move is probably about both the opportunity for him to work every day, and also to improve the big league team’s performance at first base in the short-term.
Don’t forget: the Cubs also have Justin Steele expected back on Saturday, which means they’ll lose the “extra” position player they’ve been playing with (no way they go with a short bullpen). So even if you’re beefing with Mervis going out today, someone else is going out on Saturday, too.
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Woo hoo! A couple rehab games at Triple-A Iowa, and it looks like Cody Bellinger is ready to return!
Bellinger is back at Wrigley Field, and I expect that means he’ll be playing tonight against the Pirates after missing about a month with a bone bruise in his knee:
Cody Bellinger just arrived at Wrigley!
Pic I took of him just now as he arrived. YAY!!#Cubs pic.twitter.com/xyva7pkn6x — Sam Bernero (@sambernero) June 15, 2023
More soon when the transaction is finalized, but I wrote about the expectations for Bellinger earlier today. You can figure he’ll be playing a lot of first base for now, which could mean Matt Mervis heads back to the minors:
Source: bleachernation.com
