Cubs to call up Diamond for Tuesday

DENVER _ Forgot to say earlier how nice it is to be back in Denver, one of my favorite stops on the circuit. The Cubs said today that Randy Wells will pitch Monday’s series opener at Wrigley against the Brewers and that they’d call up righty Thomas Diamond from Class AAA Iowa to start Tuesday and fill that little vacancy left by the trade of Ted Lilly to the Dodgers. Diamond, 27, as many of you know, was shortened up in his most recent start at Iowa just in case Lilly was moved. At Iowa, Diamond is 5-4 with a 3.16 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. In 108.1 innings, he has struck out 104 and walked 46. He’s a protégé of Cubs assistant GM Randy Bush, who coached him at the University of New Orleans and was instrumental in claiming him from the Rangers last September. Lineup vs. RHP Jason Hammel Colvin, RF Castro, SS Lee, 1B Ramirez, 3B Byrd, CF Soriano, LF Soto, C Fontenot, 2B Gorzelanny, P Lot of long faces in there, especially among the pitchers, with the departure of Lilly to the Dodgers. Acting manager Alan Trammell (Lou is tending to a family funeral) praised both Lilly and Ryan Theriot for coming in personally to say goodbye to teammates and address the media instead of calling or sending text message. We got some quotes from Ted in today’s earlier blog. Theriot was asked about not batting an eye when it came to mentoring Starlin Castro, who supplanted him at shortstop. “Because that’s what you’re supposed to do,” Ryan said. “That’s what you’re supposed to do. This game has been around for a long time, and you help your teammates. Anybody would have done the same thing.” Trammell said he’ll miss both players personally. “As human beings, you get attached to certain people,” Tram said. “They’re both very good teammates, very coachable. On the other side of it, when you become a professional baseball player, these are things that can happen. Talking with Ted earlier, when you don’t play up to expectations, things like this happen.” New second baseman Blake DeWitt, obtained from the Dodgers, will be here in time for tomorrow afternoon’s series finale.