Chicago Cubs: David Bote demotion setting up Ben Zobrist return?

Ben Zobrist has been working his way back to return to the Chicago Cubs this season. Has an opportunity just created itself for a callup?

The Chicago Cubs have a flurry of relievers coming back from the injured list. Pedro Strop, Brandon Kinztler, Craig Kimbrel, and now Steve Cishek. The team had to make a corresponding move and announced on Monday that utility man David Bote would be sent down to Iowa.

Bote, who signed a five-year extension at the beginning of the season, had a rough week that led to two comeback wins on the part of the opposition.

Meanwhile, Ben Zobrist, who has been working his way up through the minors to reacclimate himself with baseball again after dealing with some off the field issues, is now with the Iowa Cubs.

Zobrist had been away from the team since the beginning of May but told the Cubs shortly after the All-Star break that he would be returning to finish out the final month or so of his contract with the team.

Zobrist is most notably known for having the game-winning double down the left field in Game 7 of the 2016 World Series, but just trying to get his timing right again at this point. The 38-year old played just 3 games in Single-A South Bend before moving up to High-A Myrtle Beach.

He played the same amount of games there before going up to Triple-A Iowa and has played 3 games thus far as well. It’s a small sample size and I am not sure anyone is expecting anything from Zobrist at this point, but he’s slashing 0.250/0.400/0.375 with a double, an RBI, and two walks with Iowa.

The Cubs have struggled to find a solution at second base in the absence of Zobrist as Addison Russell has been a mixed bag. He too has been sent down after an atrocious game on July 23 in which he committed several miscues. He’s back up with the big league club now but likely came up for defensive purposes after the two Bote botches.

The team has tried everyone under the sun at the position including Robel Garcia, Daniel Descalso, and the aforementioned Bote and Russell. Bote’s demotion might be coming at the right time as Zobrist could be recalled soon to re-join the big league club. Like I said, expectations are pretty low for Zobrist’s return but we’ll see how he responds.