Weekend Quick Hits: Wells Activated, Coleman Sent Down, Lopez to Start & More

Lots of news and notes... let's jump right in!

• Randy Wells has been activiated from the disabled list. He will make his second start of the season today against the Pirates, with the first pitch coming up at 12:05.


• In a surprising move, the Cubs have elected to send Casey Coleman down to the Triple-A Iowa instead of letting him remain in the rotation until Matt Garza's return.


• Newcomer Rodrigo Lopez will move into the rotation and start on Monday against the Reds. He was originially expected to be a swingman in the bullpen, but instead he will join Wells, Zambrano, Dempster and Doug Davis in the starting five.


• According to a tweet from Carrie Muskat, Marlon Byrd looks much better. Swelling has gone down.


• Today's Cubs outfield has a different look, with Louis Montenez starting in right field and Tony Campana in center. Reed Johnson and Jeff Baker are both dealing with nagging injuries.


• Geovany Soto went 0-for-3 in his first rehab apperance at Double-A. He will make his first start tonight. If all goes well, he could rejoin the Cubs on Monday.


• Brett Jackson is rehabbing with the Mesa Cubs. After that work is complete, he will rejoin the Tennessee Smokies. Word is that he is not that far away from being able to play in the bigs.


• Last year's number one pick, pitcher Hayden Simpson, is currently pitching at Class-A Peoria. Oneri Fleita told Bruce Miles that he removes the radar guns when Simpson pitches because he does not want him worried too much about speed.


• The Cubs have 40 total errors this season, the second most in MLB.


• Bruce Levine points out that Doug Davis has not been the answer for the Cubs. He's 0-3 with a 6.75 ERA.

That's it for now, but I'll keep you posted as the Cubs try to push through these injuries!

Mid-Week Quick Hits: Piniella, Zambrano, Rumors, & More

• Former AAA-Iowa manager and current Nationals coach Pat Listach has interest in managing the Cubs next season according to Bill Ladson.
• Tom Ricketts announced during the press conference yesterday that Jim Hendry will be the Cubs GM going into the 2011 season.
• The USA Today tossed out a few new possible replacements in Ted Simmons and Bobby Valentine.
• Number 1 draft pick Hayden Simpson is not expected to play this summer. He's battling mononucleosis.
• Carlos Zambrano retired the side in order in a rehab inning with the Mesa Cubs. Jeff Gray, who is rehabbing from a groin injury, pitched the first inning of the game against the AZL Royals.
• Zambrano will pitch at AAA-Iowa tomorrow night and rejoin the team by the end of next week according to Carrie Muskat.
• Patrick Mooney of CSN Chicago reports that John Grabow, who is out with a knee injury, will begin throwing off the mound soon and will need a rehab assignment before being activated.
• Bruce Levine reports that Lou Piniella would like to stay in baseball as a consultant with either the Cubs or Yankees.
• Bruce's list of possible replacements includes the regulars plus Greg Maddux.
• Ryan Theriot wants to win, and he wants to do it in a Cubs uniform.
• ESPN says that the Tigers have some level of interest in Ted Lilly, who is available.
• Levine thinks that the Yankees could join the hunt for Lilly that already includes the Tigers, Twins, Mets, and Dodgers.

That's it for now, but I'll keep you posted on Everything Cubs as always!

Midweek Quick Hits: A Big W, Simpson Close to Signing, Jaramillo is Trying, and More

• The Cubs had dropped five series in a row, but they won a thriller against Oakland today to take two of three.
• Also, the win today gave the Cubbies back-to-back W's for the first time this month.
• Randy Wells pitched a great this afternoon. He needed it after struggling (espicially in the first inning) in recent starts. Greg Maddux and Larry Rothschild helped Wells get mentally prepared for today's game.
• Today was Ryan Theriot bobblehead day at the ballpark. Usually bobbleheads feature players hitting or fielding, but The Riot was fishing!
• Aramis Ramirez will go on a minor league rehab assignment before rejoining the Cubs. Rami will play in Peoria on Saturday and Sunday to test his thumb.
• Carrie Muskat reports that the Cubs appear to be close to signing their first round draft pick Hayden Simpson.
• The L.A. Angels will make their first ever visit to Wrigley Field tomorrow in a game that starts at 1:20. The two clubs will play all day games this weekend as the Cubs finish out their nine game homestand. After tomorrow, all 30 MLB teams will have played at Wrigley Field.
• The fans appreciated Alfonso Soriano's sacrifice bunt the other day. It was Sori's first sac bunt in his Cubs career.
• John Grabow was activated off the DL earlier in the week and rejoined the Cubs bullpen. Mitch Atkins was sent back to Iowa after a brief big league stint.
• As Gordon Wittenmyer points out, if the Cubs are going to pick it up then Ramirez and Lee need to pick it up.
• The Cubs offense has not showing any signs of improvement over last year now that Rudy Jaramillo has taken over as hitting coach. Jaramillo says that he is not a miracle worker.

That's it for now, but I'll keep you posted!

Draft Recap: Cubs Select Simpson

The Chicago Cubs surprised everyone with their first pick (16th overall) in the 2010 MLB First Year Player Draft. Tim Wilken and company selected Hayden Simpson, a right handed pitcher out of a Division 2 school. Simpson pitched for Southern Arkansas this season as a junior and posted a 13-1 record with an ERA of 1.81.

He was the runner up for the Division 2 Player of the Year this season. Reports say that Hayden's velocity falls after about four innings of work. Perhaps he is best suited as a reliever in the professional ranks.

Wilken told Cubs.com that this pick "just made sense". Simpson wasn't expected to go until sometime between the second and fifth rounds. Most highly regarded publications ranked this guy at the back end of their top 200 list.

In high school, Simpson was the starting quarterback at Magnolia (Ark.) and also pitched for the baseball team. It was a shock for him for him to be selected in the first round, even though he new the Cubs had interest in him.

Here are some notes on the rest of the Cubs top five draft choices as the draft picked up where it left on with the second round getting underway this morning.

Reggie Golden

• Cubs 2nd round pick
• #65 overall selection
• Centerfielder
• Wetumpka (Ala.) High School
• A lot of power, good speed
• 5'10'', 210 lbs
• Click for SB Nation's Profile
• Baseball Rumor Mill Bio

Micah Gibbs

• Cubs 3rd round pick
• #97 overall selection
• Catcher
• LSU
• Switch Hitter
• Just finished his junior year.
• Good defensive backstop.
• Profile on LSUsports.net

Hunter Ackerman

• Cubs 4th round pick
• #130 overall selection
• LHP
• Louisburg (Va.) College
• Went 8-1 with a 1.40 ERA this year as a Freshman in college.
• Last week he joined the West Virginia Miners baseball club of a college summer league.

Matthew Szczur

• Cubs 5th round pick
• #160 overall selection
• Outfielder
• Villanova University
• Also played football as a WR in college
• Has great speed and can his for average and power to all fields.
• Just finished his junior year.
• Villanova Athletics Bio

Picks 6-20

• 6. Ivan De Jesus (no relation to the Cubs' coach), OF, Cupeyville (PR) High School
• 7. Benjamin Wells, RHP, Bryant (Ark.) HS
• 8. Cameron Greathouse, LHP, Gulf Coast Community College
• 9. Kevin Rhoderick, RHP, Oregon State
• 10. Aaron Kurcz, RHP, College of Southern Nevada
• 11. Eric Jokisch, LHP, Northwestern University
• 12. Austin Reed, RHP, Rancho Cucamonga (Cal.) HS
• 13. Pierre LePage, 2B, University of Connecticut
• 14. Colin Richardson, RHP, Winter Haven (Fla.) HS
• 15. Elliot Soto, SS, Creighton University
• 16. Ryan Hartman, RHP, Mt. Zion (IL) HS
• 17. Steven Brooks, CF, Wake Forest
• 18. Ronald Pinckard, RHP, Baylor
• 19. Dustin Fitzgerald, RHP, Hill Jr. College
• 20. Ryan Cueno, 1B, University of Delaware

The draft is still going on today and it will finish tomorrow (strarting at 11am CT once again). For updates on the draft all night check out our Cubs Farm Updates Twitter.