Cubs Call Up Grieve

The Chicago Cubs called up outfielder Ben Grieve from Triple-A Iowa on Saturday and sent infielder Mike Fontenot back down. The move makes short term sense. Grieve provides a decent bat off the bench, and Grieve is more suitable to playing sparingly than Fontenot. This move is slightly surprisingly, though, because it fills up the 40-man roster. Grieve has a career OPS 6% above league average in 3718 plate appearances. He was 3% above league average in 294 plate appearances last year with the Brewers and the Cubs.