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CHICAGO -- The Chicago Cubs' next roster shuffle at catcher is expected to take place once the next homestand begins.

Steve Clevenger, who has been out since April 26 with an oblique strain and a cracked rib, will head out on a minor-league rehab assignment next week that is expected to last about six to seven days.

When the Cubs return from their next road trip to Houston and Pittsburgh, Clevenger could be activated.

The Cubs recalled catcher Blake Lalli on Friday and traded for catcher Koyie Hill on Saturday. When Clevenger returns, on or about May 28, Lalli is expected to be sent back down.

Welington Castillo could also return to action in a week. He is dealing with a sprained MCL. The Cubs will know more about his injury when he is re-examined Tuesday.

CHICAGO -- Koyie Hill wanted to stay in the game long enough for at least one more chance at playing in the big leagues and on Saturday he was rewarded.

The previously catching-deep Cubs now have three catchers nursing injuries with Steve Clevenger and Geovany Soto on the disabled list and Welington Castillo dealing with an aching MLC. Castillo will be re-examined Tuesday to see if also will be headed to the DL.

So even though Blake Lalli was recalled from Triple-A Iowa on Friday, it is Hill who will get the bulk of the playing time for now. He was acquired by the Cubs from the Cincinnati Reds for cash considerations and summoned from Double-A Pensacola.

After being released by the St. Louis Cardinals at the end of March, the Reds came with a job offer a month later, assigning him to Double-A but telling him they would be open to moving him if he had a chance to play in the big leagues again. They were true to their word Saturday.

“That was the whole point of going down there,” Hill said. “I went home for a month. We weighed over some options. We passed over some jobs, we thought about some jobs, offers. They have a brand new ballpark down there (in Pensacola). I was playing four or five days a week. (Jim) Riggleman was the manager. Rudy (Jaramillo’s) nephew was the hitting coach. It was about as good of a situation as you could get.”

Hill said retirement finally started to creep into his head this year, but he stayed with the game long enough to not only see the major leagues again but to see it with the Cubs.

“I thought about (retirement) every day,” Hill said. “I think anybody that’s thinking clearly would think about it every day. That’s just natural. But I have a really good support system and I really appreciate it. It’s not the first time we’ve had to go through something and we’ve come out on the bright side of it.”


To put an exclamation point on the entire proceedings, on Saturday Hill got to catch one his best friends in the game, Ryan Dempster.

It’s funny how baseball works sometimes.

“It’s crazy, it’s beautiful, it’s frustrating, it’s rewarding, it’s everything,” Hill said. “There are some thoughts that went through my head that never went through my head before. You’ve had a nice run at it and the next thing you know you’re trying to catch a 22-year-old guy that throws half his pitches off the backstop. You’re thinking surely there’s got to be something else to do at home and see my girls every day. You just don’t leave anything on the table.”

The reality is that Hill could be gone as quickly as he arrived. When one of the three injured Cubs catchers return he still figures to stay with the club, but once two of them are healthy it’s more than likely that he is gone.

For now, though, he isn’t thinking about all of that.

“It was worth it,” he said.

CHICAGO -- Blake DeWitt has elected to remain with the Chicago Cubs organization, accepting his outright to Triple-A Iowa.

The Cubs designated DeWitt for assignment on May 6 in order to recall Travis Wood from Triple-A Iowa. Wood made one start in place of Matt Garza, who was suffering from the effects of a flu virus, and then was sent back down immediately after his outing.

DeWitt was not claimed by any other team after going through waivers. He could have declined his outright to Iowa and become a free agent, but he would have forfeited what was left of his $1.1 million deal for this season.

DeWitt is expected to report to Iowa on Friday.

It was the second time this year DeWitt could have opted out of his contract. He was taken off the 40-man roster in February when Adrian Cardenas was claimed off waivers from the Oakland Athletics. He elected to stay with the Cubs, though, and ended up making the big-league roster out of spring training.

In just 18 games this season, DeWitt batted .138 (4-for-29) with one RBI. DeWitt was acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers at the 2010 trade deadline along with pitchers Kyle Smit and Brett Wallach for Ted Lilly and Ryan Theriot.

CHICAGO -- Blake DeWitt, who was designated for assignment earlier this month, cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Triple-A Iowa.

DeWitt can still decline the outright and become a free agent, but that move would void what is left of the $1.1 million deal he signed this past offseason.

The utility man batted .138 (4-for-29) in limited duty and was designated for assignment after Matt Garza came down with the flu and Travis Wood had to be recalled to take his spot in the rotation for a day.

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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The Chicago Cubs acquired minor league left-handed pitcher Hunter Cervenka from the Boston Red Sox to complete the Marlon Byrd trade from April 21.

The 22-year-old Cervenka is 0-3 with an 8.04 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 15 2/3 innings in nine relief appearances for Single-A Greenville this season. He was a 27th-round draft pick of the Red Sox in the 2008 draft out of Baytown, Texas.

The Cubs also acquired reliever Michael Bowden in the deal for Byrd.

The Chicago Cubs signed right-handed reliever Mike MacDougal to a minor-league deal on Tuesday and assigned him to Triple-A Iowa.

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MILWAUKEE -- The stares and frowns from fellow airline passengers, as well as airport security personnel, couldn’t damper Casey Coleman’s enthusiasm.

Carrying your belongings in a garbage bag might not be the preferred way of travel, but Coleman wasn’t about to worry about it. He was on his way back to the big leagues and would have carried his stuff piled up in his outstretched arms if he had to.

“Yeah, I got a few looks,” Coleman said. “That’s alright. It was worth it.”

Coleman replaced an injured Carlos Marmol on the roster Saturday, arriving in the sixth inning after an interesting all-night cross-country adventure. One inning after showing up, on no sleep, he was in the game, managing to give up just two runs over his two innings of work.

Coleman was charting pitches in the stands for Triple-A Iowa at Fresno, Calif., on Friday night when he heard about the Cubs’ 13-inning game in Milwaukee and Marmol’s hamstring injury. Just 30 minutes after Iowa’s game was complete, Coleman got the word that he was going up to the major leagues.

That’s when the adventure began. There was no way to get on a red-eye flight from Fresno, so he bused with the team to Sacramento. He was able to get in a shower before jumping in a taxi and heading to the airport for a 5 a.m. flight.

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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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CHICAGO -- Some people might save a bottle of champagne, or perhaps a cigar, for a major accomplishment.

Adrian Cardenas saved his first trip to Chicago for such an occasion.

Called up to the major leagues Monday for the first time in his career, Cardenas marveled at how big Lake Michigan is and admitted that it is his first ever visit to the city. The promotion came nearly three months to the day that he was claimed off waivers by the Cubs from the Oakland Athletics.

“I had a chance to come here this offseason when I got claimed and I elected not to, sort of because I realized if I had the opportunity to get here I wanted the first time to be for a call up,” Cardenas said. “It worked out.”

The proverbial kid in the candy store, Cardenas spent the afternoon taking in the old ballpark at Clark and Addison.

“It’s awesome," Cardenas said. “The ivy, I pushed it a little bit and didn’t realize it was that thick. I tried to stick a ball in there to see what happens. I’m just a little overwhelmed. Anything I say right now would be cliché so I’ll spare you the clichés. But it’s great.”

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CHICAGO -- Travis Wood made a positive impression Sunday, but not one that was good enough for him to stick around.

The Chicago Cubs announced Monday that Wood was sent back to Triple-A Iowa, one day after he had been recalled and delivered a solid six innings on the mound against the Los Angeles Dodgers in place of a flu-ridden Matt Garza.

Infielder Adrian Cardenas was recalled in Wood’s place and will essentially take over the spot left vacant when Blake DeWitt was designated for assignment Sunday to free up a roster spot for Wood.

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CHICAGO -- The flu virus that has swept through the Cubs clubhouse over the last week. It finally cost somebody their job, and he wasn't even sick.

Blake DeWitt was designated for assignment Sunday so that Travis Wood could be added to the active roster. Wood will start Sunday in place of Matt Garza, who is one of four Cubs players and counting who have come down with a nasty flu-type virus.

DeWitt had been healthy, by physical standards anyway, but his offensive numbers had not been in limited action. The left-handed bat off the bench and occasional utility man was batting just .138 (4-for-29) with one RBI and one run scored.

DeWitt will now have to pass through waivers where he can be claimed by another team. If he makes it through waivers he can accept an assignment to Triple-A Iowa or elect to become a free agent.

“Hopefully he clears waivers and elects to stay with us,” manager Dale Sveum said. “It’s just an unfortunate thing. More than anything, just because of the flu bug it cost a guy a job in the big leagues. Our only chance to do anything was with him.”

Garza joined Scott Maine and Jeff Baker as Cubs players who were stricken by the virus, which first appeared when the team was in Philadelphia. Ian Stewart was the latest to fall ill and was replaced in the lineup Sunday by Joe Mather.

CINCINNATI -- The return of Kerry Wood and Ryan Dempster on Thursday cost Randy Wells and Scott Maine their spots on the Chicago Cubs' roster.

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PHILADELPHIA -- The Chicago Cubs announced that infielder Edgar Gonzalez, who didn’t make the big-league team out of spring training, has been released.

A Cubs spokesperson said Gonzalez will likely pursue options to play in Asia.

The 33-year-old middle infielder was batting .286 in nine games at Triple-A Iowa with three RBIs.

PHILADELPHIA -- Steve Clevenger is ailing, Geovany Soto is struggling and the catcher the Chicago Cubs might have always liked best is now on the major league roster.

The Cubs have yet to make it official, but a source has confirmed that, yes indeed, Welington Castillo will join the team Saturday in Philadelphia, with Clevenger headed to the disabled list reportedly for a sore side.

Castillo has shown that he is worthy of being in the major leagues already, but the Cubs were in a pickle toward the end of spring training. The experienced Soto, who is making $4.3 million this season, was locked in to being the everyday catcher.

That left the Cubs to decide between Clevenger and Castillo as the backup, a less-than-ideal scenario since both are developing and would be best off playing full-time.

Clevenger ended up winning the job and has shown that he can handle the backup role expertly. He was batting .500 (11-for-22) in five starts and a handful of pinch-hit chances, and is even tied for the team lead in doubles with five. Manager Dale Sveum has praised Clevenger’s ability to hit fastballs and called his left-handed swing “slump proof.”

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