Carrying 12 pitchers for the foreseeable future, the Cubs finally decided to insert a productive player into the 13th position player spot. On Tuesday, they recalled shortstop Ronny Cedeno from triple-A Iowa and outrighted Enrique Wilson to Iowa.

Cedeno had a cup of coffee earlier in late April, early May, hitting .312/.312/.500 in just 16 at-bats, after Nomar Garciaparra got injured (Garciaparra, by the way, could start taking batting practice next week). He was sent down when the Cubs signed Wilson, which was strangely shortly after Dusty Baker said Cedeno would begin to see more starts at short (with Neifi Perez moving to second).

Wilson was hitting .136/.240/.227 in 15 games for the Cubs this year, and had a career OPS 17.5% below the league average coming into this season.

Cedeno has been excellent at Iowa this year, though he is also playing at a level far above what he has ever previously done in the minors. He is hitting .371/.415/.552. His seven home runs are already a career high. His 967 OPS is 238 points higher than what he put up at double-A West Tenn last year.

So far, the Cubs are saying that Cedeno will back up Perez at shortstop. The Chicago Tribune quotes Dusty Baker as saying, "He's more of a true shortstop, a backup that can give Neifi a rest. Neifi is my shortsop, and there's a good chance Cedeno could be the shortstop of the future."

I believe Baker when he says he'll play a veteran over a rookie. But when does the future begin? The Cubs could not have brought Cedeno up to just sit on the bench, which is largely what he did in his last stint. If Perez continues his slide back to his established career level (654 OPS in May, 590 so far in June, after improbable 962 April), Baker will feel pressure to insert Cedeno into a semi-regular starting role soon.