James Russell to start Monday unless someone else does

“That’s what I don’t know,” Quade said. “If we go in-house, then Russ is going to pitch. But if something else has taken place within the last 24 hours, [Hendry] can bring that to me and we can make a decision. Obviously, anybody who pitched [Friday] night wouldn’t be available. But there could be something else.” — cubs.com

The depth in the Cubs system took a huge hit with so many starters being injured at the same time. It’s  a problem every organization would have. Jay Jackson has made just two starts since returning from the DL. While he could probably give you 75 to 80 pitches you don’t really want to add someone to the 40-man roster and promote the guy to make his big league debut after only two starts. The rest of the I-Cubs rotation has sucked. The Smokies rotation hasn’t been any better with the exception of Rafael Dolis. Dolis is on the 40-man, but you don’t really want to start his arbitration clock if Wells and Cashner are going to be back soon enough.