The Cubs put Anthony Young on the disabled list as expected Friday night and called up right-hander Frank Castillo from Triple-A Iowa.
Castillo is scheduled to start Sunday against Omar Olivares and the Cardinals.
Manager Tom Trebelhorn is eager to give Castillo a chance to pitch again in the major leagues. Castillo started the season on the disabled list, had one good start and one bad one with the Cubs in May and since then is a solid 4-2 with a 3.27 earned-run average at Iowa.
The real reason Castillo is being called up, though, may have more to do with money than ability. He has a major-league contract that pays him $225,000-more than twice the major-league minimum.
If Castillo stays in Iowa during the strike, he continues to get paid. If he is on the Cubs’ roster and goes on strike, he doesn’t get paid.
Look for other clubs to make roster moves before the strike to call up players from the minors who have major-league contracts.
Timing: The first day Young is eligible to come off the disabled list is Aug. 11. The Cubs would probably leave him on the DL and keep Castillo on the roster. That way they won’t have to pay either one of them during a strike.
Hard ball: Another financial move the Cubs, and other clubs, can make on the eve of the strike deadline would be to strand players on the road. The Cubs, for example, are idle Thursday, Aug. 11, but are scheduled to play the Dodgers in Los Angeles on Friday, Aug. 12, the day the strike is supposed to start. Normally, the Cubs fly to the West Coast on their off day. If the team does that this time and the players strike, they are responsible for their own transportation back home.
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Grace-less: First baseman Mark Grace was out of the lineup for the second consecutive night. He showed up at the ballpark for an early workout and was in the preliminary starting lineup, but said he was feeling ill with the flu and went back to the hotel.
Eddie Zambrano was penciled in to take his place at first base, but Zambrano was a late scratch, too, with a bruised finger. Steve Buechele started at first base and Jose Hernandez took his place at third base.