Iowa-Chicago shuttle

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

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.