Iowa-Chicago shuttle
By Vine Line
There were three new faces in the clubhouse today, as general manager Jim Hendry recalled slugger Jake Fox and selected the contracts of infielder Andres Blanco and left-hander Jason Waddell. Lefty Neal Cotts and infielder Bobby Scales were optioned to Iowa, while Aaron Miles was placed on the 15-day DL.
Some Triple-A numbers for you:
Fox: .423 AVG/.503 OBP/.886 SLG with 17 homers and 50 RBIs in 40 games
Blanco: .314/.349/.451 with nine doubles in 43 games
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Waddell: 5.51 ERA with 17 hits, one home run, seven walks and 12 strikeouts in 16.2 innings
Those of you following along with Vine Line’s minor-league notebooks will know that Blanco has a great glove and has done well to improve his bat tremendously since joining the Cubs organization. Fox can mash, especially fastballs, and has adjusted his hitting approach since his major-league debut with the 2007 Cubs.
Finishing off the Pirates
Soriano, LF
Theriot, SS
Bradley, RF
Lee, 1B
Johnson, CF
Soto, C
Freel, 3B
Blanco, 2B
Zambrano, RHP
Left-hander Zach Duke (5–4, 2.77 ERA) closes out the series for the Pirates.
Time to start a winning streak.
