This has been a bad year so far for Bobby Brownlie. If he's going to turn it around, it's going to have to be at double-A West Tenn rather than triple-A Iowa. The Cubs demoted Brownlie, reports the Chicago Tribune. The Cubs' 2002 1st round draft pick had a 10.80 ERA in 11.2 innings at Iowa this year, including one less than successful start.

Brownlie made his 2006 West Tenn debut yesterday in relief and he again struggled, allowing 5 runs in 2.1 innings on 5 hits and 2 walks.

He had a 4.74 ERA in 104.1 innings at Iowa last year, but had good success once he was moved to the bullpen, so this year's poor performance comes as a surprise.

Brownlie had a history of shoulder problems in college at Rutgers. Those problems resurfaced in his initial season in the Cubs' minor league system in 2003, just a few weeks after he came within one strike of throwing a no-hitter for Daytona. Nevertheless, he came back in 2004 and threw 3.36 ERA ball for West Tenn in 26 starts, with a 3.2 K/BB ratio. Unfortunately, he's been unable to translate that success to Iowa, and he now finds himself taking a step back in the system.