Cubs roster move: Sean Newcomb to injured list, Mark Leiter Jr. recalled

Cubs lefthander Sean Newcomb hadn’t pitched since the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader against the Dodgers and if you were wondering why, now we know.

Wednesday afternoon, the Cubs placed Newcomb on the 15-day injured list and recalled righthander Mark Leiter Jr. from Triple-A Iowa. Leiter will be available for Wednesday’s game. The IL placement for Newcomb is retroactive to Sunday, May 8.

Newcomb had pitched three times for the Cubs. Two of those outings were good, the other not so much, and the results so far: 8.10 ERA, 1.200 WHIP, three strikeouts in 3⅓ innings.

Leiter has made four appearances for the Cubs (three starts) and has a 7.84 ERA and 1.742 WHIP with 10 strikeouts and seven walks in 10x innings. With Iowa, Leiter has made two starts with a 7.04 ERA and 1.435 WHIP and 14 strikeouts in 7x innings. His last appearance of any kind was May 4 with Iowa.

These sorts of moves have been common for the Cubs since rosters contracted to 26 players May 2. I would expect more of them going forward, though as noted, the IL is now 15 days instead of 10. As always, we await developments.