Cubs roster move: John Lackey to disabled list, Kyle Schwarber recalled

With John Lackey reportedly suffering from plantar fasciitis, a very painful condition of the bottom of the foot, and not scheduled to start until July 18, the Cubs took advantage of the new 10-day disabled list, just as I predicted they might:

The Cubs still have the eight-man bullpen that most teams seem to want these days, and in addition to that, the team has decided that Kyle Schwarber is once again ready to face big-league pitching.

Schwarber played 12 games at Triple-A Iowa and hit .343/.477/.714 (12-for-35) with a double, four home runs, nine runs scored and eight walks. He struckout 12 times. He's expected to be available for today's game.

The addition of Schwarber will also give Joe Maddon some more bench flexibility over the four games remaining before the All-Star break, as he'll now have five extra postion players instead of four. This might even last for the first few games after if Lackey is not reactivated before July 18.

Welcome back, Kyle. Here's hoping the two weeks at Iowa helped fix what was wrong.