With Aramis Ramirez, Reed Johnson, and Angel Guzman set to return from the disabled list today, the Cubs had to of course get rid of three players from the 25-man roster. It was a very tough decision, and the Cubs took until about 3:45 PM CT with the game starting at 6:05 PM CT to finally figure out what to do.

According to 670 The Score radio in Chicago, the Cubs chose to send down outfielder Sam Fuld and relief pitcher Kevin Hart to Iowa, and put relief pitcher David Patton on the disabled list. In all likelihood, they just made up an injury for Patton as I hoped they would.

There was talk that one of the powerful bats of Jake Fox and Micah Hoffpauir could be sent down, but the Cubs wisely chose to keep them up. I'm especially happy that they kept the hot-hitting Fox up.

Fuld was called up from Iowa June 29th, and went 4 for 11(.364) with some terrific defense in left field. Many Cubs fans wanted him to stay as the Cubs leadoff man after he went 4 for 8 with 2 walks in the role in 2 games last week. He'll surely be back up if there's an injury to an outfielder, or if Hoffpauir or Fox were to struggle. He'll be back in September at least.

Hart had good results in the bullpen, allowing just 1 run and 3 hits in 5 2/3 innings pitched for an ERA of 1.59. However, he walked 5 batters and struck out just 1. That ERA was sure to rise if those trends continued. He could use some more seasoning in Iowa.

Many, including myself, have said all year that Patton does not belong on the roster, and maybe the Cubs are finally feeling this way a bit. Since he was a Rule-5 selection that they acquired through the Colorado Rockies, he either had to stay on the 25-man roster, or be returned to the Rockies. However, since he had been on the 25-man roster 90 days now(92 to be exact if my math is right), the Cubs officially own his rights, and can just put him on the disabled list for awhile as they are apparently doing. This way, they don't have to use him right now, AND he's still a part of the organization. Please, just keep him there all year.

So with Aramis Ramirez and Reed Johnson returning on offense, Jake Fox and Micah Hoffpauir staying with the big club, and Angel Guzman replacing Kevin Hart and David Patton in the bullpen, this team all of a sudden looks quite a bit better. Let's hope they play that way.

Update: According to the Chicago Sun-Times Cubs beat writer Gordon Wittenmyer via Twitter, David Patton was put on the disabled list with a groin injury. Again, I assume they're just making it up, but that's what they're calling the injury at least.


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