CHICAGO -- Carl Edwards Jr. made the Cubs' Opening Day roster as a key part of the bullpen, but he was sent back to the Minors two days before the team played its first home game. On Monday afternoon, the reliever finally got to walk into Chicago's circular clubhouse, where a locker was assembled upon his arrival.

The trip back to Triple-A Iowa on April 6 was less about Edwards’ abilities and more about giving the right-hander a chance to take a deep breath and calm his chaotic mind. Prior to their 6-5 loss to Miami on Monday, the Cubs recalled Edwards from the Minors and optioned right-hander Dillon Maples to Iowa.

Cubs manager Joe Maddon did not waste time turning to Edwards, summoning him from the bullpen with a 4-3 lead against Miami in the seventh inning on Monday night. Edwards leaned on his fastball and faced the minimum three batters to preserve the lead.

Edwards would have scripted the start to his season differently, but he feels this path was important.

"It's very humbling," Edwards said. "It got me back to where I'm comfortable with pitching now with a lot of confidence. And I took it as I hit the bottom, so the only way I could come was go up. I did it really good enough to get back up here with the guys."

Over his first four appearances of the season for the Cubs, Edwards allowed six runs, issued five walks and struck out two in just 1 2/3 innings. Along the way, Major League Baseball informed Edwards that he needed to eliminate an aspect of his delivery, which he worked on all spring. When the season began, the move evolved into an illegal stop rather than the brief hesitation on display in Spring Training.

Edwards did not want to talk on Monday about the mechanical issues. Instead, his answers were more about what he feels is an improved mentality. The pitcher credited John Baker, who is a mental skills coordinator for the Cubs, with helping him through that process.

"I went down there for a mental [break]," Edwards said. "And just basically to get my head back to where I should be. That's how I feel now … very mentally strong. I talked to a lot of guys. Baker was a big key to me. That was a huge piece to it."

The 27-year-old Edwards has a 3.34 ERA in 177 career appearances with the Cubs, but command troubles have held him back from emerging as an elite late-inning arm. Last season, the righty had a 2.60 ERA with 67 strikeouts against 32 walks in 52 innings for Chicago.

In seven games for Iowa, Edwards had a 2.16 ERA (two earned runs in 8 1/3 innings) to go along with seven strikeouts, two walks and a .107 opponents' average.

"Yesterday and today felt like my first time being called up all over again," Edwards said. "I had the jitters. I couldn't sleep. I'm just very, very excited, because I've accomplished some things down [there] and I'm looking forward to seeing how it works up here."

Worth noting
• Maples made three appearances out of the bullpen for the Cubs, allowing no runs in 2 2/3 innings with six strikeouts and five walks. Maddon has raved about Maples' potential -- if the righty can harness his fastball command -- but the team felt the reliever needed to head back to Iowa in order to get consistent innings.

"We need to get Dillon pitching more regularly," Maddon said. "A guy like that, it's like a young position player that's not getting enough at-bats. He's not getting enough pitches. So, it was the right thing to do right now."

• Second baseman Daniel Descalso was out of the lineup on Monday, marking the second game in a row he has sat out with left ankle soreness. Descalso tweaked the ankle while rounding first base in the first inning against the Cardinals on Saturday and left that game in the fourth. He is available as a pinch-hitter off the bench.

"If this guy said he's a little bit sore, I believe him," Maddon said. "He played about three or four innings not feeling good the other day after it had happened. He's one of those guys you have to monitor pretty closely."

• Left-hander Mike Montgomery (10-day injured list, left lat strain) threw a bullpen session with no issues on Sunday, but the Cubs have not yet determined whether the pitcher is set to be activated or will do one more Minor League rehab outing. Said Maddon: "What I'm hearing is he's ready and we have to evaluate this. But we don’t have a next step ready to give you right now.”

• Backup catcher Victor Caratini (10-day injured list, left hand) began a Minor League rehab assignment with Class A South Bend on Monday.