Chris Morel went up to the Cubs yesterday and Nelson Velazquez will be in the lineup for the Iowa Cubs tonight. And, of course, Morel was on the bench in his first game back.

As for the minor league moves, the Cubs could not keep a secret this weekend as Cade Horton was in South Bend while Luke Little and DJ Herz found their way to Tennessee. Little saw some action getting in 2 innings worth of work on Sunday.

But there will be more “official” moves today.

With Ryan Borucki being released along with Roenis Elias taking a job in Asia, Iowa has a couple of spots open. Then, according to how things work, a couple from each affiliate should/could move up. Will we see Zac Leigh and Burl Carraway head east to Tennessee?

The following IL moves and one promotion were made yesterday,

RHP Jake Reindl and 3B Rafael Morel were placed on the IL at Tennessee and Myrtle Beach, respectively.

RHP Manny Espinoza was activated at South Bend.

INF Lizardo Ruiz was promoted from the DSL Red to EXST

What will be most intriguing to me is who will be heading to Myrtle Beach to replace Cade Horton and possibly a reliever? Will Espinoza now be used in the pen or will Kohl Franklin or Brandon Birdsell head to Double-A. Lots of options await!

I wonder if lefty pitchers Carlos Garcia and/or Joel Machado find their way to Myrtle Beach this spring. I loved watching Garcia in the DSL in 2021 (on the Mets feed) before he was suspended for all of 2022 for PEDs. Machado was signed as an IFA in 2018 but has yet to pitch more than a 8 innings in his career due to injuries. Both are blessed with beautiful curves. Both or one of them would be fun.

I will be back at 8:30 AM and periodically throughout the day, as usual!

8:30 AM

Lots of early moves

1B Bryce Ball assigned to South Bend Cubs from Tennessee Smokies.

RHP Eduarniel Nunez assigned to South Bend Cubs from Tennessee Smokies.

South Bend Cubs released RHP Bailey Reid

South Bend Cubs activated 3B James Triantos

2B Juan Mora assigned to Myrtle Beach Pelicans

RHP Cade Horton assigned to South Bend Cubs from Myrtle Beach Pelicans.

I am going to have lots of new guys to take pics of this weekend.

9:00 AM

That’s a lot of moves to chew on. i was not expecting them to get rolled out until noon or so, yet here we are. Noticeably absent so far is Ed Howard, who has to be close. We should be seeing some Myrtle Beach moves en masse around 12-1 central. I will check back around 10:30.

1 PM

Nothing in the email today from the Pelicans. They could have a couple of guys come up later in the week.

5:40 PM…Just in time.