One of the members of the Cubs’ Opening Day rotation is back with the team.

The team activated lefty Jordan Wicks off the 15-day IL and optioned RHP Porter Hodge to Triple-A Iowa. Wicks had been on the IL since April 25 with a left forearm strain and missed 35 games. Additionally, the Cubs reinstated RHP Keegan Thompson off the 15-day IL and optioned him to Iowa.

Wicks, 24, has a 4.70 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP in 5 starts this season but had his best outing before suffering the injury. On April 23, he allowed just 2 runs on 5 hits in 6 innings of work, picking up his only quality start of the season.

He rejoins the Cubs’ pitching staff at an interesting time.

The Cubs rotation seems pretty set — Shota Imanaga, Javier Assad, Jameson Taillon, Justin Steele and rookie Ben Brown have been performing well this season. But the Cubs bullpen has struggled throughout the season, and they’ve shuffled pitchers like Brown and Hayden Wesneski between both starting and relieving roles.

The Cubs have probables through this series in Cincinnati — Steele will start Friday night’s game with Brown and Imanaga to follow. So, Wicks could provide some reinforcement in relief for the Cubs.

Entering Friday night’s contest, the Cubs have 3 relievers who have pitched twice in the last three days and another — Kyle Hendricks — who pitched Thursday and is in his first go-around in the bullpen, so he likely wouldn’t be available Friday. Wicks provides manager Craig Counsell with a fresh arm that can pitch multiple innings, too.

Using him in a relief role is another way to manage his innings, too. It’s Wicks’ first full season in the majors and he’s never pitched more than 100 innings in a professional season before. The Cubs will want to be smart with his workload — and that of other young arms like Brown and Wesneski — to make sure they’re fresh and successful for the full gamut of the season.

It’s not a permanent home for Wicks, either. He’ll still make starts this year for the Cubs, but right now, the need for the Cubs is in the bullpen.

“One of the things we have to consider is keeping him stretched out,” Counsell said prior to Thursday’s game in Cincinnati. “That’s definitely gonna factor into this decision. We need to have someone stretched out if something happens in the rotation.”

Hodge was solid in his first taste of the majors. He had pitched 4.2 scoreless innings across his first 5 outings with 7 strikeouts. But Thursday, Hodge allowed 2 runs on 3 walks in 0.2 innings of work.

He’ll be back in the majors at some point, but the roster game meant it was him that would be optioned. The only other pitchers in the bullpen with options are Wesneski and lefty Luke Little. Little has been solid since being recalled in mid-May and Wesneski has turned into a trusted reliever for Counsell.