Cubs roster move: John Lackey activated from disabled list, Eddie Butler to Iowa

It’s been 13 days since John Lackey last threw a pitch; the results were decent (six innings, six hits, three runs, no walks.

We learned after that game that Lackey was suffering from plantar fasciitis. That’s pretty painful; it’s hard to believe he was pitching through it.

The Cubs are hoping the rest will have solved this issue as they have activated him from the disabled list to start tonight’s game:

This move is really no surprise at all. Eddie Butler, who moved to the bullpen when Jose Quintana was acquired, is the odd-man out with this move and the team evidently thought it would be better for him to start every fifth day at Triple-A Iowa, where he had a 1.17 ERA and 1.109 WHIP in five starts there before he was called up in early May.

Butler does have talent and has made some decent big-league starts for the Cubs, but failed to get out of the fifth inning in five of his 11 starts. He’ll have to do better than that to be in the mix for the 2017 rotation.