Cubs Place Frank Schwindel on IL, Recall Alfonso Rivas

The Cubs have placed Frank Schwindel on the 10-day injured list with low back strain and recalled Alfonso Rivas from Triple-A Iowa. This is the third stint with the Cubs for Rivas after he broke camp with the club and bounced back and forth a couple times. He has played 38 games for the Cubs, hitting .194 with two homers, two doubles, one triple, and 13 RBI.

In six games with Iowa this season, Rivas has a .346 average (9-for-26) with two doubles, one home run, and four RBI.

Schwindel is hitting .237 with eight homers, 10 doubles, and 33 RBI in 62 games for the Cubs this season. Most of that has come since his very brief demotion in early May, which lasted one day because David Robertson went to the IL and Schwindel was recalled in time to catch a commercial flight to San Diego.

In 149 plate appearances since, he’s batting .255 with six homers, seven doubles, and 24 RBI. His wRC+ is only 102 in that time, just barely higher than league average, but it’s a helluva lot better than he had been hitting previously.

As disappointing as it was to see Schwindel leave the game with assistance Friday afternoon, it’s good that the Cubs actually placed him on the IL right away. That said, it’s entirely possible this is something that’s been nagging for a while. He hasn’t homered in his last 44 plate appearances and might have been in need of a little time off anyway. It was probably all the extra work on the mound this past week.

Speaking of which, it’s quite strange that Schwindel was lost to injury the same seven of Stephen Colbert’s staffers were arrested in a congressional building and charged with unlawful entry. As you may have heard, the Late Show host poked a little fun at Schwindel’s pitching and the first baseman took offense to the joke.