Whew.
It was at least defensible – even if many of us had different thoughts on the matter – to have Drew Smyly take the start in Detroit on Tuesday. With Marcus Stroman set to return last week, and then suddenly not, it threw the whole rotation for a loop. The Cubs had to figure out a way to cover at least one start, and they had hoped that a few solid relief appearances for Smyly would somehow re-unlock his ability to succeed as a starter.
It did not work. Tuesday went very poorly. Worse, after the game, it sounded like the Cubs weren’t jumping to move Smyly back out of the rotation in favor of another fill-in option. I was quite concerned.
BUT SANITY HAS PREVAILED:
Jed Hoyer says that it is “likely” that Smyly will now be pitching out of the bullpen, which I take to mean: Drew Smyly is now in the bullpen.
Although he’d previously been announced as Sunday’s starter, you can safely assume now that it won’t be Smyly. Instead, it could be Jordan Wicks, who was scratched from his Iowa start this week, or it could be Shane Greene, who pitched very well in a surprise start on Tuesday. Strictly speaking, it could just be someone already in the rotation, depending on who starts tomorrow and/or Saturday. Hoyer did not lay out the precise plans yet.
Suffice to say, someone else is joining the rotation, and Smyly is going back to the bullpen, where he will hopefully continue to succeed. Not like the Cubs don’t need arms there, too. If I had to guess, I’d say it’s probably going to be Jordan Wicks for now, and we should keep our expectations in check for a rookie coming up in a playoff race. I don’t expect dominance. I just want to see capable, solid, decent outings, and obviously some development in the process.
