When word broke that Brian Matusz had been scratched from Friday’s scheduled start in Iowa, the initial reaction was that a trade was afoot. Though I suppose it would be imprudent to rule anything out, it appears now that the real reason the southpaw was a no-go was because he was needed in Chicago on relatively short notice. As they so often try to do in these situations, the Cubs are giving him a soft landing by having him pitch the rubber match with Seattle against some chump named…King Felix.
“It’s prudent to be proactive,” Joe Maddon explained Saturday afternoon.