September 20: The strain is of a Grade 2 variety, Madrigal told reporters (including Bruce Levine of 670 The Score). That’s a reasonably significant injury that often requires a few weeks of recovery, though Madrigal stated he’s without a current timetable for a return.
September 19: The Cubs placed infielder Nick Madrigal on the 10-day injured list, with a retroactive placement date of September 17. Infielder Jared Young was called up from Triple-A Iowa to take Madrigal’s spot on the active roster.
Madrigal suffered a right hamstring strain that forced him to make an early exit from Saturday’s game, and after a few days of examination, a trip to the IL became inevitable. “We got some imaging and it’s worse than expected,” Cubs manager David Ross told MLB.com and other reporters.
This is the second time Madrigal has strained his right hamstring this season, with the previous injury costing him most of July. Despite that somewhat lengthy past timeline, Ross is “not ruling out hopefully postseason [availability]” for the infielder should the Cubs reach the playoffs. “He’ll still be working and trying to get back, but it’s just the same hamstring — just worse than we thought.”
Madrigal has hit .263/.311/.352 over 294 plate appearances this season, and that lack of pop made playing time hard to come by earlier in the season. With Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner entrenched in the middle infield positions, Madrigal was limited to mostly part-time at-bats with Patrick Wisdom at third base. Madrigal began to earn a larger share of playing time throughout the summer, and even after Jeimer Candelario was acquired at the trade deadline, Madrigal still got some looks at the hot corner when Candelario was utilized at first base (with Cody Bellinger playing center field).
More third base time opened up when Candelario hit the IL with a bad back last week, and with Madrigal now also out, Wisdom and Christopher Morel figure to split time until Candelario returns. Chicago’s fight for a wild card slot has been hampered by a few notable injuries in the last few weeks, with Marcus Stroman missing significant time and the likes of Candelario, Adbert Alzolay, Michael Fulmer, and now Madrigal all out.
Not sure what happened to this dude. At one point he really looked like a perennial .300 hitter in the making.
I think he was hyped by the White Sox to be more than he is. They do this with all their young players, and fans fall for it..
Yeah? Well, I wish the Sox had him back. He can hit, and he would have filled the perennial hole at second for a decade or more.
I used to believe the same thing.
No, he can’t hit. The last thing we need is another 80-ish wRC+ in a lineup that is already full of them.
Nope, no place for slappy and his butthead antics on the basepaths
Multiple scouts said MLB pitching would overpower him, I believe the exact words were “knock the bat put of his hands”
He was supposed to have a really high floor with good speed, high baseball IQ, excellent defense, and plus-plus contact ability. Only that last has translated to the majors, and he kills it by not walking. Because he actually can get to almost any pitch, he swings at most of them, only to hit them weakly. He’ll never hit HRs, but if he waited for good pitches, he could drive them for doubles and a few triples.
I really liked the Madrigal trade initially, but after seeing him play, I asked myself “If we get peak performance out him, what does that look like?” .300 or better hitter, maybe 20 steals and probably a low-mid .700 OPS – which is OK if he’s your 2B, but that’s if he’s at his very best.
The Cubs have Hoerner, who is much better than Madrigal is pretty much every aspect of baseball, so Madrigal’s role is a utility guy and a guy off the bench, but has absolutely zero power.
Moral of the story is that his value is minimal. I think they should try and get him to learn the outfield so he is able to offer more value off the bench. I won’t miss him if he’s not back next year.
I remember arguing with Cub fans that Nico Hoerner was going to be better than Nick Madrgial at the time of the trade. They actually booted me off the board because I called a guy “too narrow minded”.
Anyway, Madrigal doesn’t need to learn outfield, we have plenty of fourth outfield types now and in the future. His value to the Cubs is as a pinch hitter/super utility infielder. I said all off season, he should be looked at like Tommy LaStella with better defense. Madrigal has elite contact skills and those contact skills are valuable to score a guy on third or move a guy from second to third. Maybe on another team he will/would blossom to a solid second baseman but the Cubs would be stupid to trade him (just like they were stupid to trade LaStella) because his value to the team is greater than the prospect return they would receive.
So true drasc—and the obvious reason the Cubs shifted him to 3b and the reason he is around.
The value is greater to have him around (when he is able) than any prospect snag they will get.
Just have to live with the fact he’s hopefully about a 100-120 game a year player and that he gets hurt by simply running and there is no miracle salve for that.
And please—no Madrigal in the outfield…..
Quick subject change—boy, it’s concerning that when they made the defensive switch last night that they left Morel at 3b and took Wisdom out and didn’t move him to 3b. Maybe because the lead was large enough—but if Candelario doesn’t come of the IL for the Rockies series there is big defensive problems ahead and I would hate to lose a game because Morel/Wisdom HAVE to be at 3b. Scary.
I prefer Morel to Wisdom at third, frankly, with Madrigal out the Cubs should put Morel at third, Bellinger at first and PCA in the outfield. Regardless of what Crow-Armstrong does at the plate, a hit stolen is as good as a hit and a DRS is as good as an RBI. When Candy comes back, then we can figure out if he needs to be at first or third.
I still say that the Cubs should take Morel in ST and hit him like 500 grounders a day at 3rd base and just let him play that one position. Either he gets it or he doesn’t. But Shaw’s not ready, Nicky 2 Crow Hop Step-No Hammy still doesn’t impress me. Wisdom and Mastrobuoni are gone they should maybe find a LH compliment to Morel at 3rd. Can Young do it? He’s basically failed every time they bring him up. I’ve always liked his swing but he’s not a very good 3B. With PCA here now Candelerio should get all the reps at 3rd base when he’s healthy. Sorry but I still believe Madrigals injury history makes him a candidate to go. Vasquez provides much better offense and defense than Madrigal. If you’re only argument for him is he hits the ball weakly more often, Then to me it’s not much of an argument really. He’s no super utility guy and the prospect return really has no bearing for the Cubs whatsoever. With the draft coming in July then there will he another 20 more prospects added to an already stacked Farm system.
“Vasquez provides much better offense and defense than Madrigal”
You’ve been saying dumb stuff like this here for years. That a mediocre prospect who hasn’t even played in the majors is literally better than the guy he’d be replacing, when you don’t have a clue if its true or not. If you had it your way the entire roster would be nothing but unproven prospects because they’re always definitely better than the guys who have made it to the big league level. I am just glad that you aren’t the GM or the POBO or whatever it’s called nowadays.
Heh.
I’ve watched them both play. Have you? Obviously not because if you had, You wouldn’t be saying stupid stuff like that.
Ok, let’s paint the picture, 9th inning, tie game, one out with a guy on third. Who do you want at the plate more than Madrigal?
With the DH in play in the NL, I need weapons on the bench. I want a guy like Madrigal who’s going to get that run on third across. I need a speed guy who’s basically a lock for a stolen base and if I’m weak at a particular position defensively, I need a defensive replacement.
Madrigal makes so much sense because he can play plus defense at second or third if someone needs a day off or goes on a short IL stint.
You’ve never seen Vázquez play at the major league level and as far as his defense goes, he’s only played a total of 12 games at third.
Madrigals defense has been very good at third and his arms been fine. We all know you don’t like Madrigal but a little perspective into Madrigal and his defense, the Cubs traded for a third baseman and they played him at first. If Madrigal wasn’t capable of playing even average defense at third, he wouldn’t be here but he is… you don’t like his arm or his defense but the scouts and analysts the Cubs listen to do.
The Cubs made a mistake bringing up Young instead of Vasquez. I just hope they don’t regret it. And if they had, Maybe we’d know. I know Young has struggled multiple times against ML Pitching.
Uncle—the scary part Young coming up is that it worries me that Candelario might not be ready for the Rockies series.
And, I don’t think that Vazquez is on the 40 man—so that would require a further move.
Drasco—ONE out man on third—definitely Hoerner and Suzuki ahead of Madrigal. Probably Dansby.
Where you add the chance of strikeout with Suzuki and Dansby you equal that out by the lesser ability of Madrigal hitting a sac fly—or having weak contact on a grounder.
TWO out man on third—definitely Hoerner. Probably nobody else.
On a positive note, Suzuki is finally starting to show me what the Cubs thought he could be. I hope it’s not just a random streak and he can at least keep up a portion of what he’s doing now. I don’t think his current pace is really sustainable but……? And did anybody see the power that Canario has? That looked like a lame fly out to LF and was a bad swing, Then it ends up halfway up the bleachers. I knew he was strong but wow.
mike- Pretty sure Wisdom, Young or Mastrobuoni would make it through waivers. So the 40 man problem probably isn’t a big deal.
Uncle–I don’t think it’s a random streak—he’s been hot before, just not two month hot almost.
The thing with Seiya and I can be totally statistically wrong is that when he goes in a slump it tends to be a 2 for 28 slump that lasts eight to ten games. He doesn’t have 4 for 19s—-it always seems to be extreme. And when he’s in that 2 for 28 he gets tentative and it seems he always gets that two inch outside pitch called for a strike against him and he snowballs into a bevy of 0-2, 1-2 counts and gets way more defensive than any hitter should. Whatever change—him being aggressive in the zone very early in the count has made him much more viable as a key RBI guy.
Sorry I guess that came a bit off, my argument is for Madrigal being a bench bat, Hoerner and Suzuki are not guys you are going to be able to pluck off the bench so when the situation arises where you need that run from third, it’s Madrigal you want coming off the bench.
Like I said, with the dh, you want situational players on the bench, not necessarily the “best” over all guys but the guys that can do one or two specific tasks better than anyone else.
Another Doggie Dascenzo Augie Ojeda type that cub fans like but offer little value in the modern age
Hey Dumbster: two things:
1). The Cubs didn’t spend their Top choice in the MLB draft on Madrigal.
2). Madrigal would be a starting IFer for your Chisox.
He needs a 3-step running start just to make a throw from 3B. Je doesn’t have the arm to play OF.
Why is it every guy I thought was out if the league is on the Cubs?
Not sure who you’d be referring to.. the Cubs have a lot of average to above average players, but no one that’s elite. Between Hoerner, Happ, Suzuki, Bellinger, Swanson, Candelario, Gomes – that’s a pretty deep lineup.. Rotation isn’t flashy either, but it gets the job done.. the bullpen stinks however.
Cubs sinking in nl central. Losing to teams below .500 and not in the playoff race
They aren’t playing their best, that’s for sure but they’re still in the third WC spot. So not sure how that’s “not in the playoff race.”
You gotta give citizen a little bit of credit here—-it’s game 151 and he’s still trolling. Most of the Cubs trolls rolled up the carpet by May 1. Considering that a large majority of Cubs trolls are Cardinals and White Sox fans, they had a good reason to completely disappear.
Keep at it, citizen. Cubs fan love that others care about how the Cubs are doing. Keep us posted if they lose to anymore under .500 teams, will ya?
My legs don’t want to work
I can’t run no more
Lord knows I got
Them hamstring blues
Then English idiot?
I thought Madrigal would win a batting title one day. The guy has that kind of hit tool, albeit with powder puff power.
Somewhat surprised he hasn’t been a real force with SBs. However, he has been on the IL or nicked up quite a bit.
On the right team, one with enough pop i.e., he could be an everyday 2B and lead off or solid #2 hitter.
Doesn’t look like he’ll get that opportunity with the Cubbies. I could see the Nats giving him a shot. Don’t believe they are that enamored with Luis Garcia as their long term solution at 2B.
Anyway, always enjoyed watching scrappy guys like Madrigal play. They do a lot of the little things right that can help win a game.
What – ‘surprised he hasn’t been a real force, with SBs’!! You must drink the Kenny Williams Kool Aid.
I am not knocking Madrigal, he gives it, everything he’s got. But . . he was drafted a few rounds higher than he should have been. And aside from being fragile his skill set was somewhat limited by his lack of power and speed. In college he was a 2B not a SS. In other words, he never had a high ceiling.
Not sure if Madrigal’s hammys will ever allow him to play a full season… nice role player and contributor on the right team but he seems to be on the fragile side.
Yes, he’s a great bench guy, he’s going to be cheap, and he very good bat to ball skills. I’d imagine he would crack quite a few major league rosters.
End of the year, guys are dropping like flies.
I really like Madrigal as a contact hitter.
He’s been fine this season and better than I thought he would be at 3rd base.
But he’s wound up tighter than a drum. An automatic hammy issue every season. I’m afraid he’s on his way out the door. Cubs need guys they can rely on. Nicky Two Strikes is not one of them.
He runs like a Duck
From the waist down He’s off. Not his fault just the way he’s built.
He blew a Hammy w The Sox as well
It will always be a thing
LOL, a grade 2 hamstring strain, described as “a reasonably significant injury that often requires a few weeks of recovery”
Grade 2 strains are basically half tears of the muscle, the bigger the muscle, the longer the recovery. For a hammy, 2-3 months before return to full athletic activities.
The guy just doesn’t have a frame that can handle 162. As soon as he gets regular playing time, he goes to the IL. His history doesn’t lie, including his NCAA career.
I like guys like Madrigal and Schanuel in the lineup. Think they could be successful in postseason situations. But Madrigal can’t stay healthy. I’d still rather have him than a Joey Gallo type.
Madrigal is a great situational/bench bat and is more than capable of handling third or second base in a pinch.
I’d love to see if Morel could handle third defensively. The Cubs have been reluctant to use him due to his arm inaccuracies, maybe he can learn from Madrigal and cut back on the velocity he throws with in exchange for accuracy.
It looks like we can start talking about NEXT season thanks to the Cubs recent play: they need to figure out third (Madrigal isn’t a starter there) and a middle of the order bat if/when Bellinger leaves. I love PCA and he will be an asset in center but needs to replace Madrigals spot in the line up, still need a solution at third and first.
I still say go all in on Bellinger, let PCA or Canario push him to first, if Mervis can push onto the roster, work a four man outfield rotation to save guys legs and utilize the other as a dh (except for PCA). Bringing back Candalario makes sense as well on a short term deal. Again, this is a guy who can play third, first or DH so finding playing time isn’t a massive concern and no-NTC for players.
This sucks. He did great at 3rd for never playing there. If he stayed healthy he could have been in the running for winning a Gold Glove.
Wassup Cubs nation! Playoff fever! Can’t wait- tickets to Milwaukee series next week. Let’s go!!!!!