The Cubs are optioning right-handed reliever Porter Hodge to Triple-A Iowa, the team announced Saturday, and recalling left-hander Jordan Wicks in a corresponding move.

The transaction comes after Hodge allowed three earned runs on three hits — two of which were home runs — in his one inning of relief Friday in the Cubs’ 7-4 loss to the Cincinnati Reds.

Hodge made 10 appearances since being recalled on Aug. 31, posting a 4.82 ERA with six walks and 15 strikeouts in 9.1 innings of work. Across his 36 total appearances with the Cubs this season (33 IP), he has a 6.27 ERA with 40 strikeouts and a 1.58 WHIP.

September still was Hodge’s best month of the season, numbers-wise, since pitching three scoreless innings in March. The Cubs’ bullpen similarly has been on an upward trend since Sept. 1, posting an MLB-fourth-best 2.92 ERA in 64.2 innings.

Hodge, 24, broke out in his rookie season last year, recording nine saves and nine holds with a 1.88 ERA in 43 innings pitched as one of the Cubs’ top high-leverage options. However, an injury-marred 2025 has hindered him from seeing that same success. Two separate IL stints — one in late May for an oblique strain and another in July for a shoulder impingement — have kept him from seeing regular MLB action.

Now, the 6-foot-4 righty will head back to Iowa to add on to his 16.1 innings with the I-Cubs, with whom he has a 6.61 ERA with 26 strikeouts and a 1.78 WHIP.

Wicks, 26, is back on the Cubs’ big-league roster for a third stint, his last coming in late August, when he made two appearances during the Cubs’ series against the San Francisco Giants. He threw a spotless inning on Aug. 26 with the Cubs down three runs, but he allowed a home run to Matt Chapman the next day in the Cubs’ 12-3 loss.

Wicks has an 8.71 ERA across just six appearances in 10.1 innings this year, along with eight strikeouts and a 2.03 WHIP. In 71 innings with Triple-A Iowa this year, he has a 3.55 ERA with 77 strikeouts and a 1.25 WHIP across 20 appearances. Of those 20 games, Wicks started 16 of them and has a 4.32 ERA in those outings.

Since his MLB debut in 2023, the Cubs’ 2021 first-round pick has a 5.44 ERA across 91 innings of work.