Hart down, Stevens possibly up, and Waddell to AAA

[nick]

The Cubs will option RHP Kevin Hart to Triple-A Iowa on Thursday, reports the Arlington Daily Herald.

The Cubs want Hart to get work in the minors before a likely return to start for Chicago on July 19 at Washington, according to the report. Bruce Miles speculates that reliever Jeff Stephens could be summoned from Iowa to replace Hart on the active roster. Miles also reports that the Cubs will activate Jason Waddell from the DL and option him to Iowa in a procedural move.
-rotoworld.com


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Jeff Stevens is one of the 3 pieces we received in the DeRosa deal, and has been putting up great numbers at AAA. He's also the most MLB-ready of the 3 arms we received, and going into the trade was considered the most interesting piece (at this point, Guab might have more value as a prospect, but I don't know-- all 3 have put up exceptional numbers this year and improved their stock). I hope he can stick his first time through, but don't expect to see that happen even if he pitches good. We have a deep staff, and it looks like whoever comes up will only be up for the duration between now and Hart's next scheduled start. Someone could always land on the DL in that timeframe though.

Either way, I look forward to his debut and think he could be a nice big league reliever for us, if we don't dangle him at the deadline to bring in a bigger fish...

[nick]

Apparently his last name is spelled Stephens, but I swore it was Stevens...