CHICAGO -- The Cubs will undoubtedly pursue help for their bullpen in the weeks following the MLB Draft and prior to the July 31 Trade Deadline. In the meantime, Chicago must find a way to patch its fatigued relief corps together with the available options at Triple-A Iowa.

Another round of reinforcements arrived Saturday, when the Cubs recalled left-hander Tim Collins and righty Dillon Maples from Triple-A to provide a pair of fresh arms for what is now a nine-man bullpen. In order to clear room on the roster, Chicago optioned righty James Norwood (promoted from Iowa to help the 'pen Friday) and outfielder Mark Zagunis back to Triple-A.

Maples earned the win in Chicago's 8-6 victory Saturday, recording two outs during the eighth inning of a tied game. Maples has struck out seven batters in 3 1/3 scoreless innings thus far in 2019.

"We had to. There's a lot of stuff going on right now," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said prior to Saturday's game against the Reds. "A lot of usage, because we've been in nearly every game we've been playing. So, it's difficult to give guys breaks."

The Cubs' bullpen entered Saturday fifth in the National League with a 3.98 ERA, but the past 10 games have been draining for the group. Dating back to May 15, Chicago has leaned on 10 relievers, who have combined for a 4.74 ERA (11th in the NL in that time period) and .856 opponents' OPS (15th). The 38 innings by the Cubs' bullpen in that 10-game span is the second most in the NL.

Help could be coming soon from right-hander Pedro Strop, who is on the injured list, but threw off the mound Saturday to test his left hamstring. Maddon noted that Strop has another bullpen session in a few days and the Cubs should know by "late next week" if the late-inning reliever will be ready to be activated or will require a Minor League rehab assignment.

While Strop has been out, Chicago has cycled through an assortment of Minor League arms, including Maples, Norwood and Rowan Wick. In all, the Cubs have used 16 pitchers in relief this season.

"They all have the stuff to [earn more innings]," Maddon said. "You saw James, high-end arm. You've seen Dillon before. You saw Wick for the first time. All have high-end arms. Middle 90s [mph] and on up, with other good pitches. Dillon with his slider. Wick, really good curveball. And Norwood, the great split. So they all have other pitches to go with the velocity.

"It's just a matter of time, man. It can be frustrating for them. They all have the ability to pitch here and pitch well for a long period of time. It's need and opportunity."

Zagunis to get regular at-bats

The decision to send Zagunis back to Triple-A came one day after Maddon admitted that he has felt that the outfielder could benefit from regular playing time, rather than holding a pure bench job in the Majors. With the Cubs, the 26-year-old outfielder was being used sparingly as a pinch-hitter since making the Opening Day roster. It reached a point where Maddon felt the team was potentially harming Zagunis' development.

"It's wonderful for them to be in the Major Leagues, but developmentally, sometimes you can really hurt them," Maddon said. "He'll be back. He did a wonderful job. He battled in those pinch-hit at-bats. Like I told him [Friday], I said, 'I normally give the guy in your spot opportunities to play more often to keep your bat solvent.' I said, 'I didn't with you and I know I didn't,' and I said, 'I can't even apologize for that. That's just the way it played this year.'

"But I told him how much I appreciated how he handled the role. I think the rest of the group did also. He really won favor of the rest of the room in there by the way he handled this whole situation. He was outstanding."

Worth noting

• Prior to taking any questions during his daily briefing with reporters, Maddon began by offering a brief remembrance of Gerry Fraley, the longtime Dallas Morning News baseball reporter who died Saturday after a long battle with cancer. Fraley was 64.

"We got to be pretty good friends," Maddon said. "I just wanted to extend our sympathies to his family. Just a sweet, sweet man. Just a nice man. Loved the game and loved to report the game. I just wanted to mention Gerry's name today. ... All I know is that Gerry, with that flowing hair, he'd come on into the dugout and always be upbeat, but always had a well thought out question. He probably 24/7'd the game. I really believe that.

"He was constantly thinking of different items, whether statistically or matchup-wise or lineup-wise. He always had a thought. He always had a thought and you knew it was well thought out. I always enjoyed it. It was always a positive conversation with him."

• Maddon opted to start Victor Caratini behind the plate Saturday, because he and Yu Darvish worked well together last time out against the Phillies on Monday. Contreras, who has not caught Darvish since April 20, will have a chance to play in each of the next four games since the designated hitter will be available for the upcoming road series against the Astros.

• With a short bench for Saturday's game, Maddon quipped that pitcher Tyler Chatwood "definitely has to have his spikes on" for a possible pinch-hitting assignment. Chatwood delivered a pinch-hit RBI double late in Thursday's loss to the Phillies.