8/12/21

CHICAGO – The Chicago Cubs today placed right-handed pitcher Jake Arrieta on unconditional release waivers and placed catcher Willson Contreras on the 10-day injured list with a right knee sprain. Right-handed pitcher Ryan Meisinger has been selected from Triple-A Iowa and catcher Austin Romine has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. To make room on the 40-man roster for Meisinger, left-handed pitcher Kyle Ryan has been designated for assignment.

Meisinger, 27, signed a minor league contract with the Cubs in March of this year and with Iowa recently threw 12.0 scoreless innings spanning 10 games, from June 25-August 3, limiting the opponent to a .098 average and a .293 OPS. All told this season, he is 2-2 with a 4.25 ERA (14 ER/29.2 IP) and three saves in 24 relief appearances for the I-Cubs with 16 walks and 45 strikeouts, good for an average of 13.7 strikeouts per 9.0 innings.

The six-foot, four-inch Meisinger has pitched in the majors with Baltimore (18 games in 2018) and St. Louis (two games in 2020), combining to go 2-1 with a 5.70 ERA (15 ER/23.2 IP) in 20 games (one start) with 14 walks and 24 strikeouts.

Meisinger was selected by the Orioles in the 11th round of the 2015 draft out of Radford (Va.) University. In all or part of six minor league seasons, Meisinger is 14-13 with 23 saves and a 2.68 ERA (81 ER/272.0 IP) in 171 games (three starts) and has averaged 11.2 strikeouts per 9.0 innings with 339 strikeouts compared to 88 walks.

Romine, 32, was placed on the 10-day injured list April 26, then transferred to the 60-day injured list May 5, with a left wrist sprain after appearing in six games for Chicago and hitting .111 (1-for-9) with a run, double and RBI. In four injury rehabilitation games between the ACL Cubs and Iowa, Romine batted .400 (4-for-10) with two doubles and two runs scored.

Romine signed with the Cubs in January of this year and has played all or part of 10 seasons with the Yankees (2011, 2013-19), Tigers (2020) and Cubs, hitting .238 (279-for-1,172) with 60 doubles, 27 home runs and 153 RBI in 411 major league games. He has posted a .996 fielding percentage (12 E/2,975 TC) behind the plate for his career, and last season was the only catcher with at least 300.0 innings at the position without an error committed.

Arrieta, 35, is 5-11 with a 6.88 ERA (66 ER/86.1 IP) in 20 starts for Chicago this season, returning to the team after pitching for the Cubs from 2013-17 and going 68-31 with six complete games, five shutouts, two no-hitters and a 2.73 ERA (244 ER/803.0 IP) in 128 starts while also earning the 2015 N.L. Cy Young Award and being named a 2016 N.L. All-Star.

All told, Arrieta is 115-90 with a 3.93 ERA (698 ER/1,600.0 IP) with six complete games, five shoutouts and two no-hitters in 281 major league games (275 starts) with the Orioles (2010-13), Cubs (2013-17, 2021) and Phillies (2018-20).

Contreras, 29, is hitting .226 (78-for-345) with 15 doubles, 17 home runs and 40 RBI in 104 games for Chicago this season.

Ryan, 29, has no record with one save and a 6.75 ERA (10 ER/13.1 IP) in 13 relief appearances for the Cubs this season.

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