Nico Hoerner Placed on 10-Day IL, Brandon Hughes Activated, Miles Mastrobuoni Recalled, Javier Assad Optioned

The Cubs made a series of roster moves Friday afternoon, headlined by Nico Hoerner‘s placement on the IL with a mild left hamstring strain. It’s good that they didn’t prolong this move further, but they’ve been playing a man down since Tuesday. They held off in the hopes that things would clear up within 10 days, so let’s hope Hoerner is only out for the minimum duration.

Taking the second baseman’s spot on the active roster is Miles Mastrobuoni, who was recalled from Triple-A Iowa. Though the utilityman’s numbers weren’t great in all of 20 plate appearances for the Cubs at the start of the season, he’s got a .949 OPS with a ridiculous 28.6% walk rate in 77 PA’s for Iowa. The man has drawn 22 freaking walks, which shouldn’t even be possible.

The Cubs have also activated lefty reliever Brandon Hughes from the IL after he was shelved due to the same knee inflammation issue that cost him the first two weeks or so of the season. To make room on the roster, Javier Assad was optioned to Iowa. Assad proved capable in sort of a piggyback role, but it’ll be very good to get another high-leverage arm in the back end of the bullpen.