Cubs reinstate Russell ahead of Marlins clash

Addison Russell was activated by the Chicago Cubs and is starting at second base on Wednesday night at Wrigley Field against the Miami Marlins. While at Triple-A Iowa, Russell worked out at second base and shortstop, the latter being his primary position before Major League Baseball suspended the 25-year-old for 40 games following a domestic violence investigation.

Russell was recalled while infielder-outfielder Ben Zobrist (personal reasons) was placed on the restricted list. In addition, Daniel Descalso is nursing an ankle injury, furthering the need for a middle infielder. Russell is batting eighth in Wednesday's lineup.

Chicago also placed right-hander Pedro Strop (hamstring) on the 10-day injured list and activated left-hander Mike Montgomery (lat) from the IL. Russell played in 12 games for the Iowa Cubs. The first six occurred as he finishing out his suspension and the next six came after Chicago assigned him to the club. He batted .222 with three homers and 13 RBIs.

Russell's ex-wife, Melisa Reidy, alleged last September that Russell abused her multiple times. The Cubs said they plan to "literally take it day by day" with Russell, according to team president Theo Epstein.

Javier Baez has been the shortstop for the Cubs all season and is unlikely to be moved out of that spot, manager Joe Maddon said. "I think any observer of the club can realize how central Javy is to everything that we do and everything that we do well," Epstein said. "And just in general, reducing the amount of variability for your best player makes a lot of sense. And increasing the versatility for someone like Addison makes a ton of sense."

Russell has a .242 average with 51 homers and 230 RBIs in 533 career games with the Cubs from 2015-18. He was an All-Star in 2016 when he established career highs of 21 homers and 95 RBIs. The 37-year-old Zobrist is batting .241 with 10 RBIs this season. The 33-year-old Strop is 1-2 with four saves and a 5.06 ERA in 12 appearances, while the 29-year-old Montgomery has a 16.88 ERA in four appearances for the Cubs this season.

(With inputs from agencies.)