Carl Edwards Jr. was a revelation for a Cubs team in desperate need of relievers during their run to a World Series championship in 2016.
He followed up a good year with two great ones in 2017 and 2018 when he posted ERAs of 2.98 and 2.60, respectively, in 131 appearances in 118 1/3 innings.
That was then and this is now.
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Edwards has been demoted to Triple-A Iowa after just four outings in 2019, the Cubs announced Saturday.
Edwards, 27, has allowed six earned runs in just 1 2/3 innings while giving up two home runs and walking five.
Former Red Sox top prospect Allen Webster has been recalled to take Edwards' place while Kyle Ryan has been activated as well as Mike Montgomery was moved to the 10-day injured list.
Webster was not on the Cubs' 40-man roster, so the team had to designate Jen-Ho Tseng for assignment to make room.
The Cubs are off to a horrendous start on the mound and in the field as Chicago had allowed 59 runs through seven games coming into Saturday, nine of which were unearned as the team has made 11 errors as well.
Coming into the year, the Cubs knew they were going to have to do some mixing and matching to make things work in their bullpen with closer Brandon Morrow hurt to start the season and Pedro Strop coming off of an injury.
President of baseball operations Theo Epstein spoke about the challenge in March.
“I think it’ll be important for us to make the right calls in season,” Epstein said, via The Athletic. “Make the right adjustments and try to get the most out of these guys that we can. I’m confident we will continue to have a very effective bullpen and I’m sure there are going to be a lot more than eight guys contributing over the course of the year.”
This is the first notable in-season change the Cubs have made and it may have been a necessary one even if it just gives Edwards time to reset at the minor league level.