Cubs Send Down Justin Grimm To Make Room For New Starting Pitcher Eddie Butler

Well, the Brett Anderson experiment didn't take long to become a disaster, so now the Chicago Cubs are going to one of their backup plans. Right-handed pitcher Eddie Butler will make his Cubs' debut on Friday against the St. Louis Cardinals. To make room on the roster, the Cubs will reportedly option right-handed reliever Justin Grimm down to Triple-A Iowa. Butler, 26, was throwing lights out in Triple-A before missing two weeks. However, he was dazzling again after he returned from the disabled list, throwing six shutout innings on May 6. Overall, Butler had a 1.17 ERA and 1.11 WHIP in five starts for the Iowa Cubs. Butler was a first-round pick in 2012, selected 46th overall by the Colorado Rockies.

The righty made his MLB debut in 2014, getting one spot start in June of that season and then getting two more starts in September. In three MLB seasons with the Rockies, Butler made 28 starts and appeared in 36 games. He was bad, posting a 6.50 ERA and 1.77 WHIP. So, as Cubs fans we can only hope the success down at Triple-A will translate back to the Majors. The move also means that infielder Jeimer Candelario is staying up for now. He was called up for Tuesday's double-header in Colorado. The 23-year-old also started at first base in the series finale. He was briefly with the Cubs last summer before he was sent down to the minors. While Candelario has sort of become the forgotten prospect in the Cubs minor league system, he's continued to produce in Triple-A. He had a .340/.443/.649 slash line in 28 games before he was called up earlier this week from Triple-A. For Grimm, it's his second time being optioned down to the minors this season. He hasn't been good, struggling with his control. In 14.1 innings, the righty has surrendered 16 hits, including six home runs. In all, he's put up a 7.53 ERA and 1.67 WHIP. Maybe he'll get it together in Triple-A. So, the pitching matchups for the weekend series in St. Louis now look like this, as the Cardinals have also switched things up in their rotation.

The Cubs are 17-17, back in St. Louis, where hopefully they can get back to playing good baseball because it hasn't been pretty for the past few weeks.