Chicago Cubs send 7 players to Triple-A Iowa

The Chicago Cubs today announced that seven players have been reassigned to the roster of Triple-A Iowa as the team gets closer to Opening Day. The roster now stands at 36 players.

Right-handed pitcher Manuel Rodríguez was the only player on the 40-man roster sent down to Iowa. He had made three appearances in Spring Training for a total of 2⅔ innings. He gave up three hits, but no runs.

The other six players sent to Iowa were non-roster invitees: Right-handed pitchers Adrian Sampson, Mark Leiter Jr, Eric Yardley and Cayne Ueckert; and catchers John Hicks and P.J. Higgins.

Leiter looked good in Spring Training, allowing just one earned run over 9⅔ innings over four appearances. He struck out ten and walked four. If he pitches that way in Iowa to start the season, he probably will not be down there for long.

The Cubs will still need to remove eight more players from the active roster before Opening Day on Thursday, April 7 to reach the expanded roster limit of 28.