Cubs outfielder Rafael Ortega fractured his left ring finger during tonight’s contest with the Mets, relays Sahadev Sharma of the Athletic (Twitter link). The injury is expected to end his 2022 season.
Ortega suffered the injury while attempting to lay down a bunt against Jacob deGrom. He was immediately replaced by Michael Hermosillo, who’s a candidate to assume the vacated center field reps for the season’s final few weeks. Utilityman Christopher Morel has also played a fair amount of center field this year, but defensive metrics have panned his work there (and indeed all around the diamond). Chicago also has rookie Nelson Velázquez on the active roster, but he’s struggled offensively at both the MLB and Triple-A levels this year.
Signed to a minor league deal over the 2020-21 offseason, Ortega cracked the big league roster in May 2021. The journeyman impressed during his first season on the North Side, hitting a career-best .291/.360/.463 with 11 home runs and 12 stolen bases. A .349 batting average on balls in play certainly propped up those results, but Ortega had a decent blend of contact skills and power that earned him a permanent roster spot.
Ortega retained that job and has tallied a career high 371 trips to the plate this year. His offensive output has dipped from last year’s heights, as he carries a .241/.311/.358 line. The batted ball fortune has swung in the opposite direction, as Ortega has posted a below-average .285 BABIP this year. He’s nevertheless drawn walks at a robust 11.9% clip while only striking out 19.9% of the time.
The 31-year-old is a virtual lock to reach arbitration for the first time this offseason as a Super Two qualifier. He’s controllable through 2026, but the Cubs could entertain trade offers this winter given his age and the team’s retooling status. Ortega’s capable of covering all three outfield spots and offers a high-contact lefty bat that could make him a decent fourth outfield option for a contender. The offseason center field market is quite thin beyond Aaron Judge and Brandon Nimmo, so it’s possible teams searching for depth at the position could consider Ortega, assuming the finger injury isn’t expected to affect his readiness for next Spring Training.
What are the odds that velasquez doesn’t make the 40 man crunch?
100%
It makes sense to see what they really have in Velasquez. The service time issue is not worth the aggravation, especially with the new labor deal.
JBJ might make sense for the Cubs this winter if they look to add a CF who is relatively inexpensive. Nimmo if they choose to spend bigger
Jackie Bradley or KK from Tampa could make sense for the Cubs but I doubt the Cubs add a CF like Nimmo given that, despite his awful showing since coming back from surgery, they have Davis in AAA. I can also see them being relatively aggressive with PCA and maybe starting him next year in AA.
We also still have Hermosillo who has been absolutely tearing it up since he’s been activated! I mean he already has a hit and has only struck out 4 times this month.
JBJ makes sense for NO teams—that’s why he’s been on three teams in a year.
Only good news for the Mets this series. Maybe finally they can win a game lol. Maybe not! Get well soon Ortega
Maybe don’t get cute with 10 bunts in a game that you don’t need.
Somebody sounds salty after losing with their ace on the mound. Lol
Maybe he just needs to learn how to bunt properly and not have his top hand wrapped around the bat?
I’m kind of wondering if the cubs will really even keep him on their 40-man roster this offseason. Did Ortega just play his last game in a cubs jersey?
The tension mounts…
TheREALMetsFan222 hours ago
Maybe don’t get cute with 10 bunts in a game that you don’t need.
—————————-
Remember when you were 10.5 games in front, you spoke of “being better than the Braves” etc etc and talking a whole pile of steaming ****. You Mets fans, you especially, are disrespectful to the Braves. The Mets are a good team who I have nothing but respect for, but some of their fans are some of the worst.
David Ross scored runs in clutch situations with some bunts, so what? “10 bunts”, quite an exaggeration, but that is always the case with some of you Mets fans. That’s old school baseball, and it did the exact job required to score those runs. Furthermore, 2 strikes on Hermosillo when he came in for Ortega and he got the bunt down off De Grom, whose fault is that exactly?
You still have the softer and easier schedule, so stop whining.
agree you beamed my CF..yeah gonna bunt again. Degrom feels dumb now and he got a L!
Or maybe the Mets better learn in the next two weeks how to defend a bunt (and kudos to the umps for completely ignoring the dumbest rule in baseball on the Hermosillo bunt—he was well within the baseline on the throw!)
Wisdom’s bunt was poor to average at best— he bunted it right at Alonso who showed absolutely no urgency trying to get Happ at the plate. A good defensive first baseman would have made that play an out or at least bang/bang.
mike127;
Fans that think anyone can play 1B need to watch Pete Alonso play. It’s a much more difficult position to play than the narrative pushes….especially for RH throwers.
I like Alonso. He’s a gamer and a clutch hitter. A terrific DH. But few teams can afford a full-time DH, and the Mets are not one of them.
Samuel–that’s why I left it open to making it a bang/bang play—it wasn’t a sure out. BUT–if you watched the game Deshaies was very clear and explained the lack of urgency by Alonso on that play—he did absolutely nothing well with footwork, fielding the ball, or throwing the ball—especially after Wisdom had shown/attempted bunt the pitch before.
I am sure there are 29 other teams that would snag Alonso in a nano-second (for the record–not that it matters–he was my preseason MVP pick in NL).
However, the fact remains—those are plays that must not be botched three weeks from now—a loss to the Cubs on 9/13 is one thing…..not preventing runs against the Dodgers or someone like that on 10/8 is a whole different scenario.
So it looks like Ortega isn’t going to be available for the post season.
When Ortega comes off the IL he needs to take bunting practice, you don’t leave exposed fingers(all of them) around the front side of the bat exposed directly at the pitcher. I couldn’t believe what I saw, but he has to be thanked being a former Brave for the previous day with his hitting, and David Ross (an excellent ex Brave) has to be thanked for his excellent managing, scoring runs with bunts in clutch situations. Hermosillo came in for Ortega with 2 strikes on him and put down a good bunt, it was an excellent piece of old school baseball.
Fred—that wasn’t Ortega’s first rodeo at being a terrible bunter. He’s been pretty proficient at being bad at it all season.
What really boggles my mind, as a college level umpire, is why the Cubs didn’t challenge a hit by pitch…..and it did work out in the Cubs favor as the inning progressed.
The bat was not coming forward as an attempt–the replays showed the ball hit his finger(s)…thus the fracture…..and no matter what anybody tells you the hand/fingers are part of the body, not that bat.
Unless the umps ruled it as an attempt (wrong, but not reviewable) I was somewhat surprised.
The ability to bunt is a lost art. Even more, the ability to bunt for a hit. When was the last time a lefty stick dragged one for a hit? There is no need to ban the shift, just learn how to bunt. THAT in itself will ban the shift.
Bobby smac9;
There are many good bunters, and many that drag for a base hit.
Watch Cedric Mullins as well as many Orioles to start.
Degrom was worried about his record. He knew he was bunting after he fouled off the first one. So he went in a little further. just bad form on bunt..gotta move those digits and tuckem under the bat or you lose one. Coulda been prevented.
Need to pull out the Butler Bunting videos and teach each player the proper way to drag a bunt.
The thing I remember about Butler is that the third baseman would literally be on the grass about 50-55 feet from the plate and he would still bunt for a hit.
Obviously, the game has changed and it’s incredibly difficult to bunt against 98-99 mph, but I have a good feeling that Brett would still be pretty darn good at it.