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HOUSTON – Carlos Marmol was impressive enough during a simulated game at Triple-A Iowa on Wednesday that the Cubs are thinking about moving up his return to game action by a day.

Acting manager Jamie Quirk said that Marmol could pitch for Iowa on Friday instead of Saturday, but didn’t know of a timetable when the right-hander might return to the major leagues.

Marmol has been out since May 12 with a right hamstring strain. He had already been pulled from his closer role before the injury.

CHICAGO -- Well, at least program sales should be brisk as the Chicago Cubs seem to revamp their roster on a daily basis.

Nine members of the active roster weren’t with the club on Opening Day as injuries, demotions and even a retirement have kept the revolving door spinning. Having a roster in hand has become a prerequisite for watching this club.

The Cubs were already going to be hard pressed to stay in an offensive flow with their Opening Day roster and the constantly changing faces haven’t helped matters. Then there are the new members of a bullpen that manager Dale Sveum and president of baseball operations Theo Epstein had already targeted as a potential challenge way back in the spring.

“It definitely affects the pitching,” Sveum said. “You’re putting people in the bullpen in situations they shouldn’t be in, but that’s what we have to go with right now. We have to make do, and they have to do the best they can. The bottom line, too, is that we still have to do something against starting pitching.”

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CHICAGO -- With his wife and kids at his side, and all his Chicago Cubs teammates, as well as the coaching staff, standing in full uniform behind him, Kerry Wood made his retirement official Saturday afternoon.

If Friday was about getting in his last major league pitch, Saturday was about thanking everybody that made his career last as long as it did.

Standing at Wrigley Field’s home plate, the area he focused on so many times during a 15-year career, Wood not only saluted the coaches and players he worked with but also reserved kind words for the doctors and physical therapists that brought him back time and time again from injury.

There were no tears, and from the sound of it there are no regrets. He called his final day as a major leaguer on Saturday the most memorable of his career, ahead of playoff appearances, his 20-strikeout game and everything else he has done in baseball.

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As Kerry Wood walked off the mound for the last time on Friday, he was already contemplating his post-playing days future.

“I want to stay with the team and help the guys if I can,” Wood said. “I know I enjoy teaching some of the things I have learned and I’m already close to the guys.”

Before signing again with the Cubs in 2011 Wood had a sit down with team chairman Tom Ricketts. In that meeting Ricketts told the iconic Cub pitcher that there always be a place for him and his family in the organization. The job description was left unspecified, however Wood was told that this would not be a handout or token offering.

Wood’s talents are many and a front office or broadcasting job seem possible. For now, this ultimate baseball lifer wants to be there for Cubs manager Dale Sveum and his staff.

“I want to be a part of this team and organization for a long time,” Wood said in his postgame press conference. “Baseball was the one thing I knew how to do and now (that part ) is over.”

Wood and his wife, Sarah, are hard-working parents and serious fundraisers for numerous charities, including the old and soon-to-be-opened Children’s Memorial Hospital, and it appears his future will always have a connection to the Chicago Cubs and the fan base that has loved him from Day One in 1995.

CHICAGO -- Chicago Cubs rookie reliever Lendy Castillo was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a left groin strain, and left-hander Scott Maine was recalled from Triple-A Iowa on Wednesday.

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MILWAUKEE – The Cubs put Carlos Marmol on the disabled list Saturday with a strained right hamstring and recalled right-hander Casey Coleman from Triple-A Iowa.

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MILWAUKEE -- Carlos Marmol appears headed to the disabled list, the biggest casualty of the Chicago Cubs' 8-7 13-inning defeat to the Milwaukee Brewers.

Marmol was diagnosed with a strained right hamstring and will head back to Chicago for an MRI on Saturday.

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MILWAUKEE -- Being trusted to pitch in the late innings is an honor for left-handed reliever James Russell, but it doesn’t mean that the new role has made him forget about his dream.

Russell maintained Friday that he would still like to be a starting pitcher one day, but won’t push the issue with the coaching staff or front office.

“I’m still not over the whole starting thing quite yet, I don’t think,” Russell said. “It’s really pretty much up to them. Whatever they want me to do is what I want to do. But just, in the back of my mind, I think I can succeed at starting and do well and help our team out starting. If they think otherwise then that’s perfectly fine with me.”

Russell has watched with pride, respect and perhaps a tiny bit of jealousy at how Jeff Samardzija has made the transition from bullpen to starting rotation. But he swears that other than perhaps standing a little taller in meetings when the rotation is mentioned, he won’t openly appeal for a chance.

“I’ll let them decide,” Russell said. “I’m not going to say anything. Just keep my mouth shut and go about my business in the bullpen and whatever they want to do in the offseason or next year, whether it’s me staying in the bullpen or trying out for a rotation job then so be it.”

He certainly doesn’t have any complaints about his current duties. He hoped to be able to pick up some of the slack in the late innings after the departure of Sean Marshall to the Cincinnati Reds and he has been worthy of that.

And now with Carlos Marmol out at closer he could even pick up some ninth-inning action, but Rafael Dolis has done the closing over the last week.

“It shows they have confidence in me,” he said. “That’s what you want. You want to be that guy that everybody wants in there and the guy they count on late in the game. It’s a big confidence booster and makes you feel good inside, too.”

Just getting the chance to start one day would also give him that good feeling inside. He would even be willing to follow the Samardzija program and arrive to Arizona three months ahead of spring training.

“If that’s what it takes then I’ll do it,” Russell said.

MILWAUKEE -- The Chicago Cubs' current two-headed closer setup isn’t always dictated by what batters are due to hit in the ninth inning.

With left-hander James Russell and right-hander Rafael Dolis to choose from when a victory is on the line, manager Dale Sveum said he might make his decision long before the moment of truth arrives.

For this weekend’s series against the Milwaukee Brewers, for instance, Sveum has already informed Dolis that he will be the closer if the opportunity arises and Russell will be used in a set-up capacity.

“It’s probably going to be Dolis just because they don’t have the [Joey] Vottos, the [Jay] Bruces, the [Brian] McCanns, guys lined up that way,” Sveum said about above-average left-handed hitters around the National League. “We’ll probably use [Russell] in more of a situational seventh or eighth inning depending on what’s going on to keep the left-hander on the bench.”

Since Carlos Marmol was removed from the closer role last Friday, Dolis has two saves and a victory in three outings. Russell has two holds over that time and has given up just one run in 4 2/3 innings (four appearances).

“I’ll let them know during batting practice,” Sveum said. “I’ll say ‘It’s not cut and dry but a pretty good chance tonight you’ll be closing the game.’ ”

CHICAGO -- Carlos Marmol is no longer the closer, Kerry Wood has been hurt and has struggled in the setup role and Lendy Castillo is rarely used.

Dale Sveum knew that one of his toughest tasks as a first-time manager would be to maintain a bullpen with some question marks, but he never imagined this.

“Um, yeah, I guess you can probably say that,” Sveum said about bullpen management being harder than expected. “I think because we’re trying to be optimistic about everything with the team.”

There are bright bullpen spots too, though, and James Russell and Rafael Dolis are two of them. The lefty Russell pitched a scoreless eighth inning Wednesday in support of starter Paul Maholm and the righty Dolis finished it off with a scoreless ninth for a 1-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves.

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The frustrating “Groundhog Day”-like routine continued for Chicago Cubs starter Ryan Dempster on Tuesday. Dempster has allowed a total of four earned runs in his five 2012 outings but has yet to come away with a victory.

The veteran pitcher gave up just one run in seven innings of work in Tuesday’s 3-1 loss to the Atlanta Braves before turning over a tie game to teammate Kerry Wood in the eighth inning. Wood walked two and gave up the go-ahead runs on Dan Uggla's two-run single. After the inning the Cubs reliever threw his glove in disgust.

“Coming off of the DL (Wood) has had a couple of rough outings, but he is as professional a teammate (as) I ever played with and you know things will turn around real soon,” Dempster said.

As usual, Wood, who came off of the disabled list on May 1, was there to answer questions after the loss but ended the media session after being asked about throwing his glove. The pitcher did not use the excuse of being rusty in his second appearance after recovering from shoulder soreness.

“Shoulder is great,” Wood said. “That’s the frustrating thing. I bounced back from the injection and the shoulder feels great and my stuff feels fine. It is all about results and I didn’t have any tonight.”

The last time Dempster won a game was in Washington on August 10, 2011. That was the day before Carlos Zambrano quit the team in Atlanta never to return. Dempster has five quality starts and a 1.02 ERA this season.

“That was another dominating performance.” Cubs manager Dale Sveum said. “It’s a shame. It’s almost May 10th and he doesn’t have a win with a (1.02) earned run average. I am glad we scored one so he didn’t take the loss.”

Dempster was his usual team-first self after the game.

“It’s OK. It will come,” Dempster said. “It’s just more of a bummer because we had a chance to win three in a row. We will just come back tomorrow and try and win another series.”

Carlos Marmol's turnaround eighth inning in Monday night's Chicago Cubs win was something president of baseball operations Theo Epstein watched with special interest. Marmol regained his form and his aura, turning catcalls by the fans into cheers.

“The way to work through it in this (ballpark) is to take the feedback you get sometimes and turn it into a positive,” Epstein said. “Last night he said the booing motivated him because he knew he had to get it right and that is a mature approach. So you might as well turn it into a positive.”

Before Tuesday night’s game, Cubs manager Dale Sveum said that although Marmol has been demoted from the closer’s role for now, he would like to see him regain his former position. Epstein concurred.

“I think everyone has to recognize he wants to succeed as much as anyone else,” Epstein said. “No one wants to go out there and fail, especially in a role when you let your teammates down. But he is paid a lot of money to do a job and his has a lot of support around him. It’s up to him to go out and fix himself, but I have not seen any signs of him backing down.”

Marmol lost his job after imploding in a save opportunity against the Reds last week. The Cubs reliever is in the second year of a three-year, $21 million deal he signed before the 2011 season.

CHICAGO -- It’s still hard to tell if the Carlos Marmol from two years ago is back, but he put on a show Monday and stirred the crowd into a frenzy.

The struggling right-hander, who officially was removed from his closer role Friday, was used in a setup spot Monday out of necessity and took what was left of a crowd of 36,307 from anger to pure elation.

With new closer Rafael Dolis getting a day off after working two innings Sunday and James Russell closing for the day, Marmol was called upon in the eighth inning with the Cubs holding a two-run lead.

His control issues emerged quickly as he walked the first two batters he faced but then something seemed to click.

Marmol got Freddie Freeman to line out up the middle, but that out might have more to do with the infield positioning than what Marmol was doing on the mound. But then he struck out Brian McCann and Dan Uggla to end the threat.

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CHICAGO -- It hasn’t been a week since Carlos Marmol was pulled from his closer role, but manager Dale Sveum suggested Monday that the right-hander could get the job back, at least temporarily.

With new closer Rafael Dolis used for two innings on Sunday, as well as pitching in four of the last five games, Sveum was giving his right-hander a much-deserved night off.

With four left-handed hitters in the Braves’ lineup, Sveum could go with left-hander James Russell at closer if necessary. But there is always Marmol.

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The illness that will cost Matt Garza his start on Sunday may give Chicago Cubs officials some pause as how to proceed next.

Travis Wood has been recalled from the minor leagues to start in Garza’s rotation slot, however trying to decide what to do with Saturday’s starter, Chris Volstad, may be a more important issue.

Volstad has not won a game in six starts this season and in 17 starts going back to July 17, 2011. Lack of support has been a problem for Volstad both with the Cubs and his previous team, the Marlins.

The question that the coaching staff must take to management is: Would moving Volstad to the bullpen for now make sense with Wood’s ascension back to the major leagues?

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