7:48pm: Stroman will indeed pitch out of the bullpen for the time being, . He could be an option to return to the rotation at some point down the stretch, but hell build up with multi-inning relief work. The Cubs will stick with a starting five of Steele, Hendricks, Wicks, and for the time being. 6:49pm: The Cubs announced theyve reinstated from the 15-day injured list. was optioned to Triple-A Iowa in a corresponding move. Stroman is back for the first time since the end of July. He initially landed on the IL with inflammation in his right hip. That wasnt a particularly serious i sue, but he was subsequently diagnosed with a rib cartilage fracture that nece sitated a longer shutdown. At one point, it seemed unclear if hed make it back to the club at all this season. Fortunately for Chicago, hell return for the last couple weeks. The Cubs have , and lined up to start this weekends three-game set in Arizona. The Cubs dont have a set starter for their next series against the Pirates, which begins Tuesday. Its po sible they hold Stroman until that point, but the fact that they activated him tonight might suggest hell be available out of the bullpen this weekend. Stroman has been throwing for a couple weeks but didnt go on a minor league rehab Adam Cimber Jersey stint. The Cubs presumably wont want him immediately logging 75-100 pitches in his first game action in six weeks. A few multi-inning relief stints could be a way of building his arm strength while still getting him into potentially pivotal games as the club tries to lock down a playoff berth. For the first couple months of the season, the right-hander was in the NL conversation. After to sing seven scorele s innings against the Pirates on June 20, he carried a 2.28 ERA with a ma sive 59.9% grounder percentage over 16 starts. He received a deserved All-Star nod for the second time in his career on the back of that strong first half. However, Stroman had a couple clunkers headed into the break and was rocked in three of his first four outings of the second half. Over his seven starts preceding the IL stint, he allowed an even 9.00 ERA in 30 innings, with his ground-ball rate dipping to 52.9%. Showing well over the final couple weeks and potentially into October would go a long way towards bolstering his stock in advance of a po sible second career free agent trip. Stroman has a $21MM player option for the upcoming season. It seemed a lock hed decline that in search of a longer-term pact while he was dominating over the first couple months. While that could still be the case, the option would have been more borderline if Stroman had lost the bulk of the second half to injury. Hell look to demonstrate he has put the rib i sue behind him. Adam Kolarek Jersey