May 5: The Cubs officially selected Mervis’s contract this morning, as noted by MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian. In a corresponding move, infielder Edwin Rios was optioned to Triple-A Iowa. The club already had an open spot on the 40-man roster, so no additional move was required to select Mervis. Mervis will make his MLB debut in this afternoon’s game against the Marlins, playing first base and batting seventh.
Rios, 29, has struggled with the Cubs so far this season, albeit in a tiny sample of just 25 plate appearances, with a slash line of .100/.280/.300 and nine strikeouts. He figures to serve as infield depth for the club at the Triple-A level going forward.
May 4: The Cubs will select the contract of first base prospect Matt Mervis, reports ESPN’s Jeff Passan. He’s not with the team for today’s series finale in D.C. but will join the Cubs when they return to Chicago tomorrow to kick off a homestand with a series against the Marlins.
Mervis, 25, was a 39th-round pick of the Nationals back in 2016 but didn’t sign, instead opting to attend college at Duke. He wasn’t selected in the shortened, five-round iteration of the 2020 draft and wound up signing with the Cubs as an undrafted free agent.
That’s proven to be quite the find for the Cubs, as Mervis has laid waste to minor league pitching and established himself as one of the organization’s top-ranked prospects. Over the past two seasons, Mervis has skyrocketed from High-A to Triple-A (and now the Majors), batting a combined .305/.383/.615 with 42 home runs in 161 games across three minor league levels. That includes a torrid .286/.402/.560 slash and six home runs through his first 112 plate appearances in Triple-A this season.
Baseball America ranks Mervis fourth among Cubs farmhands, while MLB.com has him sixth. Mervis is generally regarded as an all-bat prospect, as he’s a sub-par runner and not a standout defender at first base. BA’s report on him notes that a shortened swing and refined approach at the plate unlocked a new level of performance for Mervis in 2022, and he’s clearly kept that up in 2023, given that he’s walked (16.1%) nearly as often as he’s punched out (17%). The left-handed-hitting Mervis was awful against left-handed pitchers in his first pro season, but he improved to .268/.339/.529 against southpaws in 174 plate appearances last year and is 6-for-20 with two homers, two doubles, six walks and six strikeouts in 27 plate appearances against same-handed opponents so far in 2023 (.300/.482/.700).
Mervis’ ascension to the big leagues comes at a time when veteran first baseman Eric Hosmer is struggling, having batted just .250/.294/.363 in 85 plate appearances. Cubs first basemen are still hitting .296/.331/.470 on the season, though that’s skewed by the fact that the vast majority of Trey Mancini’s production has happened to come while he’s playing at first base rather than in the outfield or at designated hitter. Mancini is certainly capable of playing either outfield corner and has enough bat to be an option at DH, so there’s room to get both into the lineup.
Keeping Hosmer, who’s also a lefty hitting, first base-only player on the roster alongside Mervis would be trickier, though there’s no direct indication yet that Mervis’ promotion puts Hosmer’s roster spot in jeopardy. Hosmer himself recently acknowledged that may end up being the case in an interview with Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, though he voiced nothing but support for Mervis.
“This is my 13th year in the league,” Hosmer told Rosenthal. “I’m not going to sit here and be bitter about a young kid coming up. That’s not right. … I was in spring with Matty. I was always trying to help, give him my two cents on what’s coming for him in the league, how you can simplify some stuff. It’s not something where I’m watching over my shoulder, or living and dying by his at-bats. When it comes that time, that’s when you can move on and do something else. I know he’s going to be a big part of this organization. I’ve got to help him any way I can.”
While future optional assignments can always impact a player’s timeline to arbitration and free agent, it’s worth at least outlining where those milestones currently stand for Mervis. If he’s in the big leagues for good from this point forth, he’ll fall shy of a full year of service in 2023 (barring a top-two finish in NL Rookie of the Year voting). That means he’d be on pace to reach free agency after the 2029 season, although an early-May call-up will surely afford him enough service time to qualify as a Super Two player. As such, he’d reach arbitration following the 2025 season and be eligible four times rather than the standard three.
If Mervis does manage to secure a top-two place in NL Rookie of the Year voting, he’d gain a full year of service and bump his free agent timeline up to the 2028-29 offseason in the process. He’d still be arb-eligible following the 2025 season, but he’d get there as a player with three years of service and thus only be eligible three times.
Goodbye Hosmer? Man that guy sucks
As always, we await developments.
Heh.
That is the question, the Cubs will need to clear a 40 man spot as well as an active roster spot. I think the active roster could easily be Rios but do you want to lose Rios to free agency or reassign him to AAA?
The Cubs would have an option to DFA Hosmer and if Mervis doesn’t workout, move Wisdom to first and call up Morel eventually but I do like Hosmers leadership presence and I think he is a guy you can leave on the bench with the occasional pinch hitting appearance.
Regardless of who is gone, the Cubs really need to start reconsidering their approach on offense. Imo, they need to get back to taking extra bases and try to stay out of twin killings as much as possible.
There is a open 40 man spot at the moment, so it is likely the Cubs will lose their bench warmer expert in Edwin Rios to AAA.
I wouldn’t mind losing Rios to free agency. I haven’t seen any evidence that he’s an asset to the Cubs.
They have a spot open from when they designated Borucki the other day to bring Amaya up.
I’d rather they send Edwin Rios down to get a month of playing time then launch Hosmer just yet. Hosmer hasn’t been great but unlike Rios he can play the field.
Thank God the date has finally passed. Hosmer has to be the one to go. Why do you need 5 1B? Just about everyone on the team can play 1B. Mervis, Mancini, Wisdom, Bellinger, Rios, probably even Happ. The offense needs a spark as losing all these one run games that they should have won is terrible. Somehow they have to address the other dumb thing they did. Trying to win a bunch of close games with pitching and defense with no closer.
This is why I don’t understand this philosophy. So you get an extra year of arbitration. If he’s as good as you expect him to be, And he has good stats, that last year of Arbitration he’s gonna get paid anyway. So you’ve basically delayed a man for half of a year and gained exactly ZERO money anyway. The only way this saves you any money is if the guy stinks and you win in Arbitration and that’s supposed to help in some way? I totally don’t understand this whole practice. So we have to watch Hosmer stink, WE lose games we might have won for…… Zero gain? Mystifying.
@UncleMike they might b capable of playing 1B, most really not available to though. Wisdom is their 3B, Bellinger CF, Happ LF. Mancini is hitting pretty much equivalent to Hosmer except not as strong defensively. Rios is almost 30 and has had next to no success at MLB level across parts of 5 seasons. And seeing as Hosmer is being paid veterans minimum by Cubs, cutting him would b flat out foolish.
I am by no means a Hosmer fan, he is a fairly solid veteran glove and contact bat tho to have available.
Probably Rios over Hosmer.
Flip a coin, doesn’t matter – Rios or Hosmer, or BOTH would be ok to go.
Is Rios the “Jackson Frazier” of 2023 or truly not getting a shot?
@Tom Rios has gotten shots over parts of 5 MLB seasons and is now almost 30. He had a few good years in Minors back in 2016-17. Is there something else I’m missing with him?
He might not be the player he used to be but he’s got a solid attitude for the person he is now
Pepperidge Farms remembers when San Diego gave Hosmer a huge deal. Luckily your Cubbies didn’t give him stupid money too. Easy to say, “please, hosmer, thank you for sitting on benches. Oh, and please don’t eat all the seeds or chew all the gum. That stuff aint cheap.”
There it is Drascoooo—–so not so million dollar question is it Hosmer or Rios??
Can it be both, with Morel coming to Chicago too?
Where is Morel gonna play? I think they’ll wait til they can get him more regular at-bats. Yep, he’s tearing up down there but he still has a major issue with Ks. He has a better chance of working through that in AAA than sitting on the bench in Chicago.
@rondon- 100% agree with that. Morel is interesting and a good clubhouse presence. We don’t need all that swing and miss though. He needs to figure that out in AAA and not in Chicago. He had a great start last year with the Cubs and after a month or so, the league adjusted and then for 3 months Morel showed zero ability to adjust. For instance, the entire second half he couldn’t even hit above .200, he had an OPS below .700, and a 34% strikeout percentage. I know he’s got versatility on defense, but he’s not even a plus defender at any position, or even average at some of those positions.
@Nico, with Morel carrying an OPS of well over 1000, I believe it does show he’s made many adjustments. Your points are not making sense.
@Dogbone- yes he is showing improvement. He’s hitting the ball often and hard. That is great!! He also plays in a league that is well known to have inflated offensive numbers, and doing this against pitchers who aren’t in the big leagues. I’d like to see his strikeout rate drop at least a little bit. Like I said, when he came up last year he looked great, but he K’d at a 30% rate while be successful. Then the MLB pitchers adjusted and his K rate was 34% the rest of the way while he batted under .200! He didn’t have an answer to how big league pitchers pitched him. In AAA this year he’s got a 29.5 K-rate. But he barely even played in AAA last year (I think like 30-40 ABs. So I’d kinda like to see him go through a funk down there and work his way out of it to show he can adjust. But idk, maybe the AAA pitchers aren’t capable of adjusting to what he’s doing? And if that’s the case, will those numbers transfer against major league pitchers who already established how to pitch to him and make him look bad? Either way he’s facing much lesser talent right now. He’s gonna get a shot again this year, and I’ll be rooting for him. I just think lots of patience will be needed because if he comes up again and has a similar experience to his 2nd half, where does he go from there? Also, in the minors last year he struck out 29% of the time (mostly AA), and now in AA this year he’s striking out 30%. I do commend him for having better pitch selection and taking much more walks this season. That is a huge positive! Although everything about this season is still rather small sample sizes. If he can play another month or two down there and have his strikeout rate during this coming stretch drop to about 25%, that would be the improvement that says maybe he’s ready for another opportunity. That’s my take anyway. His development is more important than where he plays for now…
@Dogbone- as far as my recent reply about inflated numbers in the PCL, just search Pacific Coast League inflated offense….
reviewjournal.com/sports/aviatorsbaseball/pacific-…
Here’s one of the many articles that pop up. 4 of the 8 teams are very high elevation. Pitchers can’t grip as well and breaking balls don’t have the same action as in lower elevations. And to compound that, the ball jumps off the bat a lot further. So think about what it’s like playing in Colorado compared to everywhere else. So if half the teams are in high elevation, that means the Iowa cubs are playing half their games in those elevations. So yeah, Morel is hitting minor league pitchers hard and crushing them because all of those factors. And even with the pitchers not being able to have as much break, he’s still striking out at 30%. So when he comes back to the Majors he’s gonna see much filthier breaking balls from much better BIG LEAGUE pitchers. That’s why it’s important to see him adjust and lower that strikeout rate. On a separate note, look at how much Matt Mervis’ numbers continued to improve (especially his strikeout rate) while playing in Iowa. That shows that he’s made adjustments and is much closer to ready. I sure hope he sticks, although I’m pretty sure he’ll probably need to go down at some point and make some more adjustments, but I think he’s shown a lot more promise to be someone who can stick in the majors and do some damage even.
@Nico, maybe break your comments up into a few paragraphs. That’s a tough read.
Half of the teams being at high elevation, half of the games in the road…that makes for 25% of the games being played in similar fashion as Colorado, not half
bass, if half the games are in high-elevation ballparks, half the games are similar to Colorado. The lower-elevation teams go on the road, too.
@gbs – lol… noted.
He definitely could work on striking out less. My biggest issue with him would b beefing the kid up, he’s 5′ 11″ 145 lbs. Which is fine for speed but as far as preparing for the rigors of a 162 game schedule and pace adding mass would b a huge plus.
Honestly I’m not even worried about his size. He generates good bat speed and torque to put a charge into the ball. If he puts on more weight, even if all muscle, it’s more for his body to have to carry. If he even cuts down his swing just a little to make better contact, I think that’s what he needs to do. There are counts where he can expect his pitch and when he sees that pitch, then let’r rip!! He looks to be a good player with a decent skill set, he just has to get better at understanding the needs of each swing for different pitches.
Tigers3232;
What’s the percentage of players that play 162 games a year in 2020 baseball?
@gbs If you’re talking about the league as a whole, sure. But not for Iowa. That would be true if Iowa played an equal amount of games at every park. They don’t. They play half of their games at home. If the road parks are 4/7 at high elevation, then they would play about 57% of their road games at high altitude. So about 29% of their total games. Teams that have a high altitude home park would play about 71% of games at high altitude
@Samuel that is why I mentioned the pace of a 162 game schedule. I know most will not play all. Regardless, unless hurt they play the majority and all the warm ups, stretching, BP, throwing, etc.. involved. And on a lean frame such as Morel’s it is physically tasking on one’s body.
Niiiice kids numbers look great. I wonder if we’ll end up uncovering some undrafted gems from that ghost 2020 draft as we go along?
My spidey senses tell me that Rios will head down to Iowa to make room for Mash Mervis. Hosmer won’t be released before June 1st, at which time Morel will make it back to The Show.
Heh.
Those moves would make perfect sense.
Hopefully for the Cubs Mervis is the real deal and not Frank the Tank.
drasco got his wish!
It must be my birthday or something because Ben Brown also recently got promoted to AAA. I can’t wait to see what that kid at the major league level at some point this season.
Crap Hosmer is still here. This is torture.
Can we exchange emails…. I’d like to get your address. I’m going to the game Monday, I’d like to get Hosmer to autograph a jersey, and I’ll send it to you … Maybe get a picture of Hosmer and Wisdom together holding up a sign that says “We Love Uncle Mike”
Nah. That’s OK. It’s a nice sentiment but I would just use a Hosmer jersey to mop the floor with. Or lend it to a Republican Senator to shoot at for a campaign ad. LOL
The future is now, he’s 25 not a pup, Hosmer has been stealing$ for yrs w/that slow bat, let the kids play
Hosmer is next to free for the Cubs. He’s still a valuable veteran to have around especially at what he costs the Cubs.
Man I was really looking forward to watching Eric Hosmer clog up a roster spot for the rest of the year
About damn time! Yes, super excited for this!
Here’s hoping Matt can withstand the pressure and not be a Mervis wreck.
The Hosmer hatred continues. His on the field performance may be disappointing but I for one give him credit for saying the right things and gracefully stepping aside for the next generation.
“It’s not something where I’m watching over my shoulder, or living and dying by his at-bats. When it comes that time, that’s when you can move on and do something else. I know he’s going to be a big part of this organization. I’ve got to help him any way I can.”
That’s a very positive approach to things by Hosmer. Glad he’s going to be a positive influence on Mervis.
Love the man, hate his statistics.
By all accounts, Hosmer, like Heyward, is a great teammate. Unfortunately, also like Heyward, his best days are far behind him.
I don’t anticipate Hosmer being DFA right away, probably down the road if/when Mervis is proving he belongs.
One difference is that if the Cubs do keep Hosmer on the roster he won’t be paid 20 million plus dollars, just the league minimum.
That’s my thoughts. Rios goes to Iowa and Hosmer sticks around to be the veteran bench presence to help Mervis develop. If Mervis needs to go back down to make adjustments then we still have Hosmer. I’d think by mid to end of summer Mervis could prove himself enough that Hosmer’s services will no longer be needed.
You can’t just send Rios to Iowa. You have to DFA him first he has no options. I’ve said this a ton of times. Now to find everyday AB’s for Morel it means making him the everyday 3B. If they wouldn’t have extended Happ they could of maybe moved him for a closer, And put Wisdom out there but that’s how a bad move causes a ripple effect down the road. Sorry to all the Happ fans but he’s just average. I wonder if the Braves or Guardians would of given a decent closer type for him before the extension. We’ll never know.
Hmmm… I noticed others saying to send down Rios and I kinda thought he was out of options, but then looked at fangraphs and it said he has one option remaining. So now I don’t know? Either way, I think Hosmer sticks around a little longer. Wouldn’t surprise me if Assad gets sent down for Mervis to fill that spot anyway. That was my initial thinking before I thought Rios had an option left.
Either way Wisdom is here to stay for a while. He’s going nowhere as he’s been one of the most productive 3rd basemen in the league since he’s been up with the Cubs. Dudes gonna hit 30 HRs as long as he stays healthy. If he even hits at least .240, that production is very valueable. I mean the guy might even push to about 80-90 RBIs. Morel won’t do any of that. He’s gonna K even more than Wisdom.
Rios has an option year remaining.
bleachernation.com/cubs/2023/05/03/the-cubs-dont-n…
@comebackcub- come on man!! Of the clown knows more than us and the entire cubs organization, that definitely means he also knows more than the internet.
I had heard Rios was out of options so if he has one he should of been sent down already to get some AB’s. I don’t really think he’s worth the investment I would just DFA him but thanks for setting me straight. I stand corrected Dawg.
I think mlb snuck a new ball in on us again based on how the baseball is jumping.
Early last year, after baseball mandated humidor use, the ball was dying. I remember Wisdom particularly hammering the ball and it going to the warning track. This season, a Wisdom is hitting the same early and the ball is going half way up the bleachers. Bellinger even has a home run that’s exit velocity was right around 90 mph that wasn’t wind aided. Just seems a little suspicious
The amateur GMs are trying to figure out a way to get rid of the person that, like you said, has been one of the most productive 3rd basemen in baseball and currently leads the Cubs in HRs RBIs and OPS. He’d likely have 30 RBIs and better offensive all around numbers if he wasn’t constantly batting 8th. Wisdom has 11 HRs now, how many would he have in Iowa…24? Boggles my mind.
How Patrick Wisdom stacks up against the rest of the league:
Average exit velocity 96%
Barrel rate 98%
Hard hit percentage 99%
XSLG 93%
xwOBA 88%
BB 66%
I’ve been watching Iowa. Morel is playing CF, and has actually played 16 games in the OF and 9 at 3rd. If the plan was to give Morel the spot at 3rd, that’s not what’s playing out at Iowa. It also doesn’t appear that Morel has solved his swing and miss.
If Morel has the same swing and miss as Wisdom, but doesn’t have the power, and isn’t as good defensively, why would the Cubs clear the way for Morel to take over 3rd?
Morel has 11 Hr’s. Wisdom has 11 ‘s. When both of them hit the ball it’s awesome. So if they both swing and miss it all boils down to pitch swing selection. Morel is getting better at it. Wisdom is not the future. Frankly 3B is the Cubs weak spot in the farm system. Triantos is struggling and Slaughter looks like he might be a Wisdom clone so there’s that. The Madrigal experiment should end. Brown looked dominant in his first AAA start. 5 2/3 with 7 K’s and 2 BB and 1 run.
You lost me at Morel has 11 in AAA and that is equal to 11 in MLB.
I’m going to disagree that 3rd is a weak link, we have Swanson locked up at short for 7 years so our current SS prospects have to be looked at as potential 3rd basemen as well.
The intriguing guy to me is Ed Howard, I know his stats leading up to this point were not very impressive but he was striking the ball extremely well during spring training last year before he got hurt. It actually looked like he put on some size and was hitting the ball with authority. He has more than enough arm to handle the hot corner along with the length
I’m not sure where you’re coming up with Morel has better pitch recognition. To end the season he was striking out at nearly a 50% clip.
If you look at the stats, Wisdom currently is hitting both fastballs and off speed, and he is hitting everything hard. That suggest his pitch recognition is pretty strong.
Granted but most of the good ones are in some type of A ball and aren’t exactly tearing it up right now, so they’re years away. Potential? Sure, but a long road to go.
That wouldn’t really surprise me one bit, but I’m not gonna really worry about those what ifs. All teams using the same ball so it’s still a level playing field. Are home runs up a whole bunch or something? I do seem to remember many HR balls that aren’t high in exit velo ever since they’ve been talking EV.
Not sure about Howard, I never been high on him, but agree the 3rd has a lot of options down the road starting with Morel. Slaughter is crushed the ball last year has a .315/.403/.547 and carries a 32% line drive rate thus far in Iowa. He’s a very solid defender. Christian Hernandez has reestablished himself. He can play either SS/3rd, Behind that you have Bote, Strumpf, Triantos & Paciolla. The Cubs drafted 15 pitchers last year. Early returns are favorable. Next draft they can draft 15 position/5 pitchers. I’m really not concerned about how the Cubs will fill 3rd.
I heard AA was using a “pre-tacked” ball this year. There was talk of whether Brown’s numbers were legit and early hitter struggles were due to the ball
@Mike- how do expect anyone to take you seriously when you think 11 minor league HRs are the same as MLB HR? It’s laughable man. Seriously??? If you had your way Wisdom would’ve been DFA’d before this season already and the cubs wouldn’t even be thinking they can have a decent season. Morel has a lot to learn about hitting still.
@spotwood- and he thinks minor league home runs (especially in a league known for inflated offense) are the same as major league home runs. Bwahahahaha!!!!
Don’t know if you know this but most minor league parks have the same dimensions or bigger than some Major League ones. If Morel hits a 368 foot homer does it count any less than a Wisdom 454 foot homer? Wisdom is bigger and stronger, doesn’t mean if the Cubs bring up Morel there will be a power outage in any way. Plus that Morel hitting 9th and setting up a Morel-Hoerner-Swanson dynamic for the rest of the game with their speed and running skills will drive the other teams P’s and C’s nuts would be more beneficial than a few Wisdom cannon shots. Morel hits them far enough and with the added benefits would help more than Wisdom IMO. If Morel can get his OBP up, HR’s don’t really matter as much as the running game will improve and help win the close games. Just my opinion.
Mike, I don’t know if you know this, there’s a difference between MLB pitching and AAA. I’ve seen you complain about how crappy the Iowa pitching was going to be, so you have to. It isn’t the size of the park, although I highly question that as an issue. FACT: Morel is feasting on minor league pitching. He isnt hitting bombs off MLB pitching. Yo come close to pushing that the HR totals are the same is intellectually dishonest.
Barrel rate and hard contact matter. Morel doesn’t come close to Wisdom. Wisdom is elite. Which means a couple things. He’s tracking pitches very well. It also means when he misses a ball, it still goes a long way.
I’m not equating the pitching difference. The fact is Morel hit 16 HR’s in 379 AB’s with the Cubs. Wisdom hit 25 in 479 AB’s. If you add the 3 HR’s Morel would of hit with the same AB’s that’s 19 to 25 and they were both equally bad at striking out. Now the Cubs are playing a close knit Pitching-Defense strategy. How many more games can Morel steal with his legs if upped his OBP? That’s the question you need to ask. Are there better P’s in the bigs. Yeah-duh. That’s not exactly a revelation. But the only difference between the 2 isn’t velocity, It’s control. Morel is doing a much better job at recognizing pitches. As long as he doesn’t catch JAVY-itis and swing at everything, I’m willing to see what happens. As always, Your guy Unclemike. LOL
Home runs are up SIGNIFICANTLY!
Home runs per 9: 1.21
Home runs per 9 in 2019: 1.22
Home runs per 9 last season: 1.01
I remember seeing a graphic that there has been 160 more home runs hit this year than in the same amount of games last year.
I always find it interesting when one guy is dominating with the exact same ball as everyone else and people want to know if it’s “legit” or not.
Obviously Brown is going to regress but look at his number in Philly last year prior to the trade, dominate! And that was without a pre-tack ball hitters had to adjust to.
Brown had Tommy Johns a few years ago, his initial come back he got roughed up but after that year Browns been next level with his arm strength being better than it was before the surgery. “Did he say, ‘funky butt loving’?”
Spotswood… That’s a question that needs to be answered. He’s been dominant at AA but that’s probably why they went up one level instead of a jump to the majors. They need to find out. His first start went well.
“You can’t just send Rios to Iowa.”
———————————
Evidently, that is exactly what happened.
I already said I was wrong about that. I heard he didn’t have any left that’s why the Dodgers cut him loose. If he had options he should of been sent down a while ago to get some AB’s and brought up Bote.
“If you had your way Wisdom would’ve been DFA’d before this season”
This is true. He was calling for the Cubs to get rid of Wisdom before spring training. So the comments are more about him not liking particular players.
It’s not that I don’t like them. It’s that they’re AVERAGE. Wisdom has 11 HR’s and 20 RBI’s which means he doesn’t drive anyone in the rest of the time. Happ is average also. Sorry they’re YOUR guys, they’re just not mine A .270 average and 70 RBI’s for the supposed ALL Star LF? That’s actually horrible when you see how many AB’s he had.
See this is what you do Mike to be a jerk, Where did Happ come into this conversation? You don’t like the guy and you you try to link him to me, as if I’m some Happ fanboy. I could care less about either Happ or Wisdom. Please tell me why you associated me with Happ there… If you want to get back to our old relationship, we’ll do that now.
I thought we were talking about average. The 2 players I thought should have gone are still here plus one actually got a raise. Where did I link Happ to you? I never said you were a fan. I think you’re just trying to make something there that’s not. I just think this off season they could have done better at those 2 positions. Is Happ tearing it up as #3? Is what he’s doing really worth 20 million next year? I’d much rather give that money to Belli and keep him. I get it you dig the big home run. But Wisdoms bat doesn’t produce what he’s needed to do which is drive in runs. He’s not that good at it. Sorry if you’re feelings were hurt. If Happ could of been traded this off season for a closer, Which would you rather have right now? Just my opinion. I still think they’re going in the right direction they’re just clogging the ML roster with some deadwood. Have fun at the game! I’m not able to go anymore sadly. Feel free to hold up a sign that says Unclemike sucks!
@UncleMike Rios only a few yrs younger than Hosmer and has had pretty much no success at MLB level. Not sure what this infatuation with Rios is all about.
@UncleMike Morel is 5’9″ 145 lbs. He’s best suited for OF or 2B. Not 3B at MLB level.
@UncleMike Morel had a hot streak with the Cubs and quickly fell off. U r looking at stats and not the whole story. He is a small guy with good speed. He is by no means a good replacement for Wisdom he’s best suited for OF or 2B.
@ UncleMike Wisdom is 2nd and only 1 HR from being tied for 1st in all of MLB. As far as RBIs, it is out of his control if runners are not on for him to drive in. Not to b rude, but u seem very out of touch with reality here.
I really hope Cristian Hernandez pans out. He’s still a kid, and his sample size is tiny. But he hasn’t done anything better this year than he did last year.
@5pounds- I wouldn’t be too down on Hernandez yet. He’s 19 and still probably adjusting to living in America and he’s 2 years younger than the average age of players in low A ball. So he’s competing against many kids that have more baseball experience in this country.
He was fairly highly regarded and I’m sure the coaches have him working on specific things that we’re not gonna see show up in his stat lines for a little while. I’d hope something starts to click soon and we recognize the improvement. He probably finishes this season in Southbend, and I’d guess his timeline puts him to arrive in Chicago maybe sometime in 2025 while he’s only 21. Having just said that, maybe it’s ‘26 by age of 22. Either way if he figures out how to compete in all these levels as a much younger player, he should be a an impressive major leaguer at a younger than average age.
@nico I agree, and I hope he turns out that way. I didn’t reference the post I replied to, but I was speaking in regards to him having reestablished his value.
Thank you… I don’t understand the hate either. I’m a Mervis fan, but considering how he looked in spring training and WBC, I’m very cautiously optimistic. If you waive Hosmer and Mervis falls flat, what do you do then?
I don’t think they will DFA Hosmer right away but if they do they still have Wisdom and Mancini who can play first base. And if you move Wisdom you can give Morel another look.
I don’t think the Cubs will DFA Hosmer either. That was directed at the folks that are celebrating Hosmer being DFA’d.
I’m not sure Morel throwing to Wisdom is optimal. I suppose you could play Wisdom at 3rd, Mancini at 1st and DH Morel
What are you saying? How can Mervis be WORSE than Hosmer? It’s impossible. There are a ton of things they can do. Morel can come up and play CF and 3B and Belli can play CF and 1B. Plus Hosmers supposed Gold Glove has been less than impressive. Morel at 3rd and Mervis at 1st has been working just fine so far. There are some big decisions to be made and each one is going to have a ripple effect. But they should of thought of this long ago. Just hope all this Arbitraton crap was worth the games it cost them early. Further proof that if a guy should be playing just play him and pay him what he’s worth. Brutal.
Mike, if Morel is going to play CF when Bellinger plays 1B, are you going to trade Velasquez?
Anyone who suggests Bellinger should not play center doesn’t watch the game. Belli is a terrific defender.
I haven’t seen Morel play center this season so I’m not sure if his defense has improved there but he was flat out awful last season.
Why do I have to?
It’s funny how much you think you know more than the front office and coaches that are with the team everyday and know all the info… lol
I’ve said before they should just leave Morel in Iowa until he can get regular AB’s here. Bellinger is also a fantastic 1B. There are still moves to be made first. You have to make a decision on what Wisdom means to the team. Are his HR’s and excellent defense worth the K’s? Morel wouldn’t hit as many HR’s but if you bat him 9th then after the 1st inning you have Morel-Hoerner-Swanson hitting in front of Happ and Suzuki and Mervis.. I really love that idea in terms or running and steals and just overall offensive potential. If Mervis can replace some of Wisdoms power is it worth getting rid of Wisdom? There are a ton of questions to be answered but one thing is clear, They have to get some more offense and clean up the back of the bullpen. Nobody at the back of the pen has a clue what’s going on. And relievers like to know where they stand.
Closer by committee has not worked out one bit this season. Fulmer looks awful in high leverage situations and Boxberger doesn’t have the stuff to close. I don’t understand why Ross doesn’t try Alzolay as the closer when we have a righty heavy line up in the 9th.
Wisdom has a lot of value as a “super sub” because he can play all four corners. Having Wisdom SHOULD allow Ross to weaponize the bench but he continues to make stupid moves (having Hosmer bunt instead of Madrigal very recently). Rios has awful numbers as a sub and pinch hitter, as much as I like his potential, he’s wasted as a bench piece.
I think Alzolay vs RH’s and Hughes vs LH’s was the plan. But the plan fell apart when Hughes knee did. I wonder if Leiter vs LH’s and Alzolay vs would work? IDK. I’m getting dizzy again but I hope they figure out something soon. I still think Estrada can do it as he has the arm and head for the job I think. He seems pretty calm most of the time to me. I don’t think he’s fazed at all but it seems like they won’t give him a shot yet.
I don’t know why the Cubs went with Fulmer over Chafin. One would think the familiarity and location would have been a selling point.
I really wanted them to resign Chaffin too. Fullmer seemed like a good signing at the time, but we are seeing otherwise now. I was surprised Ross gave him as much latitude as he did as he kept blowing games. At this point we really need Cody Heuer to get back to game shape quickly because he might be the guy we need for the back of the bullpen, for now anyway. I’d rather he be a setup 7th or 8th inning guy, but he might be our best hope until a trade can bring someone else to the team. Another thought is about Keegan Thompson. If he didn’t lose those couple mph of velocity from last year, I’d think he’d be the guy to close out games. Even some 2 inning saves.
I know more.
This! Regardless of Hosmer’s numbers, taking his impending demotion with grace, and embracing his role as a mentor, is super refreshing.
I’ve always liked him. He’s a great teammate and clubhouse guy. I want him to succeed but it hasn’t worked out. I don’t think they should DFA him yet.
It is hard reaching the end of the road. It happened to me in my profession; I still work a little after 25+ years, but only a couple of dozen days a year these days. I just didn’t have the energy to consistently work 200 days a year any more.
Signing Hosmer to be a veteran presence while knowing there is a prospect destined to take his job… this isn’t an Andrelton Simmons situation. You leave the veteran on the roster to mentor the kid for 4-8 weeks, then let the veteran announce his retirement on his own terms.
@Brick, Hosmer is 33 he is not going to b retiring
Even if he wanted to retire, I think he’d have to forfeit the money that SD still owes him. No way that happens
Absolutel Five. No way is he retiring, at worst he’d just not sign with another team and continue to collect a check. I agree no way is he announcing retirement tho and forfeiting that $. Seeing as he’s continued playing for all practical purposes for free, I’d assume he looks to play again next season.
Not that it applies to Hosmer as he’s well over 10 years. Curious tho if a player was cut after 8 years but still under contract and did not play if they’d accrue service time still
They would not, the Brewers held onto Lorenzo Cain until he reached 10 years of service time for this very reason, the day after he hit his 10 year mark he was DFA.
True, he wouldn’t actually “retire.”. But he’d have a media availability where he would say nice things about people and then disappear into the deep dark night and never be seen holding a baseball bat again.
please bring up morel next and we can fully end this barnhart, manchini, and hosmer experiment.
Barnhardt signed for 2 years. He’s there primarily for defense.
well gomes has been a finalist for gold golves in the past, and I would rather have Miguel Amaya getting at bats over old man tuck.
And it’s good they have him with Gomes in iffy health at the moment. And I don’t think Mancini is going anywhere just yet.
I can’t imagine why anyone would be complaining about Mancini at the moment, he’s been hitting extremely well as of late and is actually a pretty good fit towards the bottom half of the line up.
McGeary tore it up in South Bend and doing well in AA. Why wait to bring him up. Mancini isn’t the future, McGeary is. PCA is the future get rid of Bellinger and let the future be now. Derniche Valdez is our future at SS. Bring them up. I don’t understand why we’re holding them back! Hoyer needs to be fired! Rabble, rabble, rabble… They took my job!
His name has similarities to that of Matt Murton. Think about it.
Murton didn’t hit for power like Marvis.
Mervis .
I hope Mervis as a lot more Anthony Rizzo in him than Jake Fox or Micah Hoffpauir
Micah Hoffpauir… Blast from the past, that was a disappointment too…
Felix Pie
Murton was a line drive hitter. Got traded to Oakland if I remember correctly.
Yup. He was traded along with Sean Gallagher, Eric Patterson and Catching prospect Josh Donaldson to Oakland for Chad Gaudin and Rich Hardin
So that’s where Josh Donaldson’s history with the Cubs comes from! Good stuff, appreciate the information thank you!
That Josh Donaldson! I had no clue he was a catcher (even part-time in MLB). I would have never known.
That is because Mervis is actually just Matt Murton wearing a Groucho Marx mask.
You’d think with a name like Mervis it would be a Jerry Lewis mask instead.
Let’s hope Mervis is better at bunting than Hosmer is.
I hope he doesn’t bunt at all.
Only if he hangs the bunting before game one of the World Series.
I was hoping the same thing about Eric Hosmer, but then David Ross had a major brain cramp earlier this week.
Hopefully Mervis doesn’t flail at pitches the way he did in spring training and the WBC.
Rizzo had a rough couple of years at the beginning between San Diego and Chicago. It might take this kid a minute. Nothing wrong with that.
Rizzo did… Thank you for furthering my point, that the Cubs should keep Hosmer.
Hosmer is cooked. Great attitude, but he’s pretty well finished as a major leaguer.
Always love stories like this. And Hosmer is a classy dude. Hearts all around. Let’s go Cubbies!
Classy remarks from Hosmer – leadership.
Cubs can afford to stash Hosmer on the bench for a little while as Mancini’s ability to play the OF helps to free up a spot. Maybe less playing time will benefit Hosmer but we’ll see
Mancinis ability to play outfield is vastly exaggerated, he makes Castellanos look like a gold glove defender.
Wisdom can play outfield better than Mancini.
But is it wise to do so…
@RSOX they absolutely can afford to stash Hosmer at what he costs them. He’s still a positive veteran presence with a good glove and serviceable bat. The notion of DFAing him just seems foolish.