Cubs roster move: Jon Lester expected to hit disabled list, Rob Zastryzny recalled

Cubs lefthander Jon Lester suffered an apparent injury to his left lat during Thursday’s start. Now he’s going on the disabled list for the first time in his Cubs tenure and the first time overall in six years, when he spent a bit of time there due to back issues.

There’s been no announcement from the Cubs yet but this would appear to be today's roster move:

Rob Zastryzny made one appearance earlier this year for the Cubs but has spent most of this year at Iowa, part of that on the DL. He was also up briefly a couple of weeks ago but didn't get into a game. The Cubs could put Mike Montgomery in the rotation and slot Rob Z. into Montgomery’s long relief role.

The Cubs have a bit of breathing room before they have to figure out what to do with the starting rotation due to Monday’s off day. Jake Arrieta, Jose Quintana and Kyle Hendricks will go this weekend against the Blue Jays, then John Lackey will likely throw the series opener in Cincinnati Tuesday. If the Cubs chose to do so, they could skip Lester’s next turn, which would come up Wednesday, and Arrieta and Quintana could go in Cincinnati on normal (four days) rest Wednesday and Thursday. Then Hendricks could open next weekend’s series in Philadelphia on Friday, August 25, also on normal rest. The next day the Cubs actually would need another starting pitcher would be a week from tomorrow, Saturday, August 26 against the Phillies in Philadelphia.

There really aren’t any good starter options at Iowa. The Cubs could try to make a waiver deal with someone to acquire a starter, and of course this will bring up speculation that they might revisit a deal with the Tigers to bring Justin Verlander to the Cubs. If Lester, as has been speculated, is out for the rest of the year, Verlander would be a very good replacement.

This article indicates the Cubs are “cautiously optimistic” about Lester missing only one or two starts.

As always, we await further developments.