Change is in the air for the Chicago Cubs, as Dansby Swanson returns to the lineup on Tuesday against the Atlanta Braves after missing two weeks. The North Siders are also looking to improve their performance against the Braves after being shut out twice last week.
On Tuesday, Cubs manager Craig Counsell announced that struggling starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks would be moved to the bullpen from the rotation.
“The goal still is to get Kyle on track and get him back into the rotation,” Counsell said. “That’s absolutely what I’d like to do. He wants to do what he can to help the team. That never waivers from Kyle.”
The Hendricks move came as the offense should be getting a boost. Dansby Swanson, returning from the injured list, and Nico Hoerner were both expected to be back in the lineup this week.
“The first few days were like really nice because it was just like sit and watch baseball and chat through things,” Swanson said. “And then I really started going crazy after a while, like not being able to have a direct correlation to changing or affecting the game.”
Cubs President of Baseball Operations Jed Hoyer added the team “hasn’t been able to string at-bats together and I think that is undeniable. I just think this is what teams go through over the course of a season. Hopefully getting Dansby and Nico back, you keep grinding. I think we’ll get back to where we were in April where we felt like we had really good at-bats and we had real depth.”
The Cubs also called up infield prospect Luis Vasquez from Triple A to provide some depth behind Swanson and Hoerner. He was not in the lineup on Tuesday but has about 30 friends and family on hand hoping to see his debut.
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