Amid a crazy week, the Chicago Cubs made another roster move to help ease the burden on a beleaguered pitching staff.

The team recalled right-hander Javier Assad and placed veteran reliever Ryan Brasier on the 15-day IL with a left groin strain, the team announced Friday afternoon. Assad will now start Friday night against the Angels in Anaheim.

Assad was originally optioned to Triple-A Iowa after his start on Sunday, but he can rejoin the MLB roster in the event of an injury to a member of the pitching staff.

The Cubs are in a stretch where they are playing 14 games in 13 days, including eight games this week alone.

They did not have a starting pitcher announced for Friday’s game until the Assad roster move, though Ben Brown was available as an option in the bullpen. Brown relieved Assad and threw 54 pitches in Sunday’s game. He did not pitch in the series against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Instead, the Cubs will turn to Assad and will be down Brasier for the next 15 days as a result.

Brasier turns 38 next week and carries a 4.50 ERA in 28 appearances this season.

He got off to a great start, with a 0.93 ERA through July 25. But he has allowed runs in six of his last eight appearances to raise his ERA more than three-and-a-half runs in that time.

Brasier missed all of April and almost all of May with a left groin strain earlier this season.

Assad missed the first few months of the season with an oblique injury but made his return to the big-league rotation Aug. 12 against the Blue Jays in Toronto. In two starts in the majors, he has a 5.63 ERA and 1.88 WHIP across eight innings.

The 28-year-old right-hander has been a big part of the Cubs’ pitching staff over the last three seasons, including 2024 when he went 7-6 with a 3.73 ERA in 29 starts.

Adding a fresh arm in Assad with Brown also available takes the strain off the Cubs’ pitching staff.

Rookie Cade Horton — who is dealing with a blister on his pitching hand — is in line to start Saturday against the Angels, and Jameson Taillon is getting the ball Sunday.

In the bullpen, every reliever but Andrew Kittredge and Taylor Rogers worked two of the three days against the Brewers between Tuesday’s doubleheader and Thursday’s series finale. Rogers threw in three straight games from Sunday through Tuesday, while Kittredge appeared in three straight last Friday through Sunday against the Pittsburgh Pirates in a series at Wrigley Field.

The Cubs have an off-day on Monday that should also provide a natural break for their overworked pitching staff.