Hot prospect Szczur to be called up on Sunday

NEW YORK -- Outfielder Matt Szczur is headed to The Show.

Pitcher Dan Straily was added on Saturday to make a spot start, part of the Cubs' plan to give the other starters a breather. But the right-hander will rejoin Triple-A Iowa on Sunday, and Szczur will get called up to the big leagues for the first time. The Cubs optioned outfielder Junior Lake to Iowa to make room for Straily, and played short-handed on the bench Saturday in a 7-3 loss to the Mets.

It'll be a homecoming for Szczur, 25, a Cape May, N.J., native. He was batting .261 in 116 games at Iowa with 16 doubles, one triple, one home run, 24 RBIs and 30 stolen bases. He was hitting .292 in 14 games this month after batting .275 in July.

A solid defensive player, Szczur also was a talented wide receiver on the Villanova football team, winning a national title in 2009.

"We talked for a long time about the move and how it fits with our team now and how it might fit in with some of the things that might happen going forward," Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer said Saturday.

Hoyer didn't want to comment on other players they considered for the promotion, including highly touted outfielder Jorge Soler, who was batting .243 at Iowa.