Cubs Roster Update: Roberts Placed on IL, St. John Optioned to Iowa
Ethan Roberts has been placed on the IL today by the Chicago Cubs and Locke St. John was optioned to the Iowa Cubs. The moves correspond with the May 1 deadline for all MLB teams to reduce rosters from 28 to 26. You may recall that MLB allowed expanded rosters to start the season to counter the shortened spring training due to the lockout.
Cubs option Locke St. John to Triple-A Iowa.
Ethan Roberts heads to the IL with right shoulder inflammation (retroactive to April 30).
Cubs roster down to 26 now.
— Tony Andracki (@TonyAndracki23) May 1, 2022
Roberts appeared to have things on track when he struck out the side against the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday, April 26. He followed that outing by giving up four runs on five hits and two walks, including two home runs, in 1.2 innings combined on Thursday and Friday.
There’s no news yet on the severity of the injury to Roberts or whether the injury impacted him in either of his last two appearances. With a shoulder injury it can be anything as simple as soreness to something much worse, so we’ll have to wait to hear more from the Cubs to know what we’re dealing with here.
As for St. John, he got banged around pretty hard in his sole outing this season yesterday against the Brewers. He gave up three runs on three hits, including two home runs. So no real surprise seeing him sent back to Iowa.