Addison Russell will join the big league club soon. (Allan Henry-USA TODAY Sports)
PITTSBURGH — The Chicago Cubs will call up a second top prospect in the span of five days Tuesday when infielder Addison Russell gets called up from Triple-A Iowa.
While the Cubs did not announce the move following Monday night’s 5-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates in the opener of a four-game series, a club source told The Sports Xchange that Russell would be joining the team in time for Tuesday’s game.
Russell, 21, is already regarded as one of the best shortstops in baseball. Last weekend, he began playing second base at Iowa.
Russell is hitting .318 with one home run, nine RBIs and one stolen base in 11 games for Iowa.
The Cubs called third baseman Kris Bryant up from Iowa last Friday.
Cubs second basemen were hitting a combined .135 going into Monday night’s game. Chicago has already had three players start at the position in the season’s first 12 games — Arismendy Alcantara, Jonathan Herrera and Tommy La Stella.
Javier Baez, another touted youngster, finished last season as the Cubs’ second baseman, but was optioned to Iowa late in spring training. Baez has not played since April 9, though, as he has been away from the team following the death of his sister.
“You never know where the need is going to be on the major league level,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said before the game about why Russell had been playing second in recent days. “Being a little bit more proactive regarding prepping (Russell) for a need that might be open here.”
