Keegan Thompson, who a year ago seemed Justin Steele’s equal as a starter/reliever, fell on hard times early this season and was optioned to Triple-A Iowa May 19.
He didn’t throw well on first reporting to Iowa, but his last four outings covering 8u2153 innings have been improved: 2.16 ERA, 0.840 WHIP, eight strikeouts.
And so, today the Cubs recalled Thompson from Iowa and sent Michael Rucker back to the Triple-A ballclub.
Rucker’s most recent recall was quite odd. He was recalled August 15 when the Cubs sent Caleb Kilian back to Iowa, but in the eight games the team has played since the 15th, he appeared just once — an inning’s worth of work in Wednesday’s 6-4 win in Detroit.