Chicago Cubs call up Michael Fulmer; Shota Imanaga starts Thursday
ST. Louis – During the last seven weeks, the Chicago Cubs have sailed a rotation without their first two starting launchers.
Although they do not retain Justin Steele after an end of the end of the season operation, the left-hander Shota Imanaga should join the rotation on Thursday when the cubs activate him from the list of wounded to start against the Cardinals of Saint-Louis to crown the first series of teams of the year. Imanaga had an MPM of 2.82 in eight departures before landing on the IL and will give the cubs a boost.
Given that IMANAGA set out its left ischi-legs on May 4 in Milwaukee, the Cubs went from 7 games above 0.500 to 15 on Monday series at Busch Stadium. Collectively, the starters of the Cubs produced an MPM of 4.46 while Iimanaga was out, which includes the bulk outings of Ben Brown, Colin Rea and Cade Horton in the three games that had openers. He places the group on the edge of the third lower than the era during this section, and their total of 1.9 FWAR is 24th among beginners.
The manager Craig Counsell was very impressed by an element of the management of his team from the absence of Iunaga: the rest of the rotation made all his debut.
“I do not know if health seems to be a compliment, but these guys who take the ball in the last seven weeks and stay healthy have been essential for us and really important,” said Counsell on Monday. “You never feel out of the woods with regard to health or with regard to depth or things like that, but we cross this section and our beginners taking their turn each time were massively important.
“And we lost our days of deactivation, we all know that in terms of calendar and have had more rough time and all that, so they did a very good job of this.”
Imanaga’s return means that someone will be withdrawn from the rotation, but Counsell did not reveal who could be, by declaring: “We will understand this on Thursday.”
The Cubs enclai added a new arm for the start of the Cardinals series by putting the Michael Fulmer veteran on the list of 40 men and calling it. Nate Pearson was optionized for triple-a iowa. Porter Hodge is also about to join the enclosure of the Lights. Hodge, who has been on the IL since May 18, is in St. Louis, said Counsell, and the team decides when activating it after four rehabilitation outings in Iowa.
Shota Imanaga will return to Chicago Cubs for an upcoming trip-but who will he take the rotation?
Fulmer, 32, had an MPM of 4.42 in 58 appearances for the Cubs in 2023, but the right -hander needed an operation by Tommy John and missed all last year. It was Tommy John’s second surgery in his career, with the first in 2019. He appeared in a match this season for the Boston Red Sox, making three points and four strokes in 2,2/3 rounds on April 14, then was appointed for assignment and signed a minor league agreement with the Cubs. Fulmer displayed an MPM of 2.96 in 15 appearances (24 1/3 innings) with Iowa.
Counsell plans that Fulmer will be used in multi-manche rescue outings, similar to the way they used the right-hander Chris Flexen.
“The main thing was to make representatives of the game again and try to present a more coherent base there,” said Fulmer. “I had a few rounds per week, but obviously, just trying to reconstruct themselves and simply get quality representatives in the game and I hope that (I) showed enough to get an opportunity here.
“The whole rehabilitation process with your second (Tommy John Purgery) is always that everything is slow, slow, slow, do nothing to hinder your rehabilitation process, but when you start to launch BP live and start to face the strikers, it’s now, you don’t have to start, go a little, so I’m just excited.”
