Cubs Option Ben Brown Back to Triple-A, Activate Star Reliever From Injured List

The Chicago Cubs have made some significant roster moves on Tuesday evening.

According to an announcement from the team, star reliever Porter Hodge is being activated from the injured list after a shaky rehab assignment. In a corresponding move, young right-hander Ben Brown is being optioned to Triple-A Iowa after a start on Monday night which was a complete disaster.

Brown allowed nine hits and eight earned runs in five innings pitched against the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday and after the game was at a loss for words as to how it happened.

Hodge on the other hand has been out since the middle of May and over the weekend allowed four hits and seven runs in just a third of an inning, however the Cubs clearly feel he is now healthy and ready to go.

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The young flame-throwing reliever was the team's best bullpen arm for a significant portion of the early season before going down with the injury.

As for Brown, though him being optioned rather than sent back to the bullpen is a little bit of a surprise, clearly he has some things he needs to work on and heads to Iowa knowing the improvements to make for the next time he is called up.

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Brown has the kind of stuff to be a devastating reliever eventually, he just needs to fine tune things and further develop a third pitch.

With Shota Imanaga set to return this week, Brown's rotation spot will be filled quickly, and the bullpen gets a major boost as well with Hodge back in the fold.

The microscope will be closely on both Brown and Hodge over the coming weeks.

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