The Cubs currently sit at a solid 20-14 record, just one game back of the Brewers for the NL Central lead. That strong start has come in spite of a number of key injuries: staff ace Justin Steele was pulled from his Opening Day start against the Rangers due to a hamstring strain and hasn’t taken the mound in the big leagues since, while the club more recently lost both Cody Bellinger and Seiya Suzuki to rib and oblique injuries, respectively.
Fortunately for Chicago, however, it appears that all three stars are nearing a return to action. Manager Craig Counsell told reporters (including ESPN’s Jesse Rogers) this afternoon that both Suzuki and Bellinger could be back in action some time next week, while MLB.com’s Injury Tracker notes that Counsell indicated to reporters yesterday that Steele is slated to be activated from the IL and take the ball in Monday’s game against the Padres.
All three updates are fantastic news for the Cubs. When Suzuki was placed on the IL on April 15, the Cubs’ offense had produced a solid 108 wRC+ (11th in the majors) but the offense has scuffled in the right fielder’s absence with just a 93 wRC+ (17th in the majors) since then. The club’s struggles at the plate have become even more pronounced since Bellinger was placed on the shelf, as the club has posted a 73 wRC+ (24th in the majors) with an ISO of just .101 since then.
The club will have some interesting roster decisions to make upon the duo’s return, as top prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong has made a solid impression with a 90 wRC+ and elite defense in center field while Bellinger has been on the shelf while veteran fourth outfielder Mike Tauchman has capitalized upon everyday opportunities and is now hitting a scorching .276/.406/.460 with a wRC+ of 154 in 106 trips to the plate this season. The most likely outcome appears to be Crow-Armstrong returning to Triple-A while Tauchman takes over as the club’s regular DH, with Bellinger and Suzuki immediately returning to their usual places in center and right field. That being said, it’s possible the club views Crow-Armstrong’s defense and baserunning as too valuable to lose and instead looks to carry him as a bench player even after the return of Bellinger and Suzuki.
While Chicago’s offense has struggled without its two star outfielders, the rotation has flourished even without the fifth-placer for last year’s NL Cy Young award. The Cubs’ rotation has a collective ERA of 3.35 that ranks sevent-best in the majors this year. Shota Imanaga (0.78 ERA), Jameson Taillon (1.13 ERA) and Javier Assad (1.97 ERA) have been nothing short of dominant as they’ve led the group in Steele’s absence while youngsters such as Hayden Wesneski, Ben Brown, and Jordan Wicks have combined for a solid 3.27 ERA in 11 starts to fill out the back of the rotation. That being said, Steele’s return would allow the club to return either Wesneski or Brown to a beleaguered bullpen that has struggled to a well below average 4.50 ERA and ranks bottom-five in the majors in terms of fWAR.
In less positive Cubs news, the club optioned first baseman Matt Mervis to Triple-A Iowa today, recalling utility infielder Miles Mastrobuoni to take his place on the roster. Mervis got top-100 prospect buzz entering last season thanks to his rapid climb through the minor leagues that saw him reach Triple-A in just his second professional season, but he’s stalled out at the level despite an excellent .297/.393/.556 slash line at the level for his career.
He’s received two cups of coffee in the majors to this point in his career but has failed to hit in either of them, with a .155/.222/.259 career slash line in 127 trips to the plate at the big league level that includes a nine-game stint this season that saw him go just 3-for-26 with a 30.8% strikeout rate. Mervis will now return to the minor leagues to await his next opportunity, though at this point he appears to be blocked by the likes of Michael Busch, Bellinger, Tauchman, and even Crow-Armstrong in terms of left-handed options for the club.
Imagine how good their ERA would be without Hendricks.
He’s washed.
When are they going to DFA Wisdom?
That would not be wise.
I love how…”fans”…are so focused on dfa’s. “Perform at a high level immediately and consistently, or you’ll be replaced in two seconds by any number of younger, desperate Latino players waiting in the wings!!!”
The sick tyranny of modern MLB.
Maybe you should check out Wisdoms triple slash line at the moment before calling for his assignment.
I guess I had an expectation that most were sharp enough to pick up the sarcasm. I’ll walk it out more slowly next time.
Nice attempt, there, Spots.
Look like Jed & Tommy R know what there doing. A solid MLB club and farm system.
That can fill holes due to Injuries Plus Tommy Large wallet for trading deadline.
Cap off with best manager In MLB
I suppose Ricketts deserves credit for letting Jed and Carter run the show. The latter two have been fantastic, bullpen has been a disappointment, but missing Merryweather and Alozay getting shelled a big component of that. Pitching depth has been great and impactful, once Steele returns hopefully we can strengthen the bullpen with Brown/Wez.
Great news for the Cubs, hopefully Horton will be a fast riser and we can move both Wicks and Brown to the pen to solidify it.
Cubs are going to use Bellinger a lot as dh to start I imagine so PCA seems like a pretty safe bet at cf for the time being.
But using Belli at DH lessens his overall value to the club. His defense and baserunning are solid additions to the team and part of why he makes 30M.
I’m pretty sure PCA will go back to Iowa. He was told that when they called him up. I’m not even worried about who plays the field, The things that bother me are the bullpen and the weird defense by Swanson and Hoerner. They’ve both been less than adequate lately. Hopefully when Steele and yes even Hendricks come back as he sounds closer than Wicks at this point then Brown and Wesneski can help the pen while Thompson and Palencia go down. If everyone else pitches like they have those 2 guys will help the bullpen immensely. Tauchman and Canario can play CF if Belli needs a day at DH so that’s not a problem. Actually Morel is playing a decent 3B while Busch, Hoerner and Swanson have looked like they have they’re heads up their A** lately. Morel getting his bat going and even Wisdom has been helpful lately so offense should be fine. Need to get the pen straightened out first.
I could see Bellinger playing some first base with Busch DHing in those games.
I’m not sold on moving Wicks to bullpen unless they’re concerned about his arm and putting him a pitch count. He’s been solid in the rotation and Wez and Brown can move to the pen. I hope they DH Belli and even give Happ games off with some combination of Tauchman, Belli, Suzuki, PCA.
Wicks has been the Cubs worst starter besides Hendricks. Wesneski, Brown, Assad have all been fantastic in the rotation.
I’m not saying Wicks is bad but he is throwing too many pitches trying to strike everyone out and he is walking too many. He is pitching similar to Steele when he first came up where he would get a couple strikes and then nibble.
The bullpen needs a complete overhaul. Jed should be calling Peter Bendix immediately. I don’t care if it is Scott,Puk,Nardi or whoever. Just about anybody would be better than some of what we have seen. Alzolay has blown six games for us this year. Carl Edward’s Jr. is down in Iowa so that is a start. I don’t care how it gets done but that BP needs fixed ASAP.
I’m sure he’s been on the phone to every club. He sees the obvious weakness (only?) in this team.
If I was making the roster decisions, PCA would stay as the CF, batting 9th for the rest of the season. His offense is passable, but his defense puts him in Gold Glove contention. I’d alternate Belli between 1b and DH with Busch. Belli’s going to opt out again unless he gets a serious injury, and his 1b defense is elite, as well as less stressful on his body.
PCA will stay up for a while after Bellinger and Suzuki come back and if he continues to earn it he will stay.
There is more than enough playing time between the three outfield spots and DH for Happ, Bellinger, Suzuki and PCA especially given Bellingers ability to play first base as well.
Tauchman has really been the Cubs motor for the past two seasons but it will be hard for him to find playing time
IMO, the Cubs need to avoid the situation they found themselves in last season with the pen, give Horton a couple starts in AAA and then if he does well, more him to the rotation. Push Wicks and Brown to the pen and show more confidence in Little. Of everything works out then great, if not, look at adding a high leverage guy at the deadline.
Horton looked a tad shaky today. His control was way off. But the good news was he stretched out to almost 80 pitches but I wouldn’t hope for a quick call up if I were you. A lot of his pitches weren’t competitive. Nerves? Call it what you want but it’ll come just not as soon as you think it will.
I’m not worried about one bad inning. Guys have that. The fact he buckled down and only allowed two runs speaks louder than his walks.
The guy I’m keeping my eye on is Arias at AA. He’s been pretty darn good every time he’s pitched this year and I think he can get to the Cubs this year. Kid has closer stuff and decent control although I wouldn’t hang the closer thing on him right away. But he can definitely help the bullpen especially the sad state it’s in.
Agree on Arias, would like to see him get a shot in the pen. Alozay needs to go down and get his confidence back, and would be huge if Merryweather can come back healthy before the ASG. That bumps Neris to the 7th/8th, Leiter can still be the fireman for high-leverage.
Alzolay is out of options so he’d have to agree to go down. I know Counsell said he’s gonna “use everybody”, but outside of mop up in a blowout, he just can’t risk blowing any more games with him. I don’t know how they’re gonna fix him without regular use so I hope he’d be good with going to Iowa for awhile and work it out down there.. They’ll get some help when Brown/Wesneski are added, but Hoyer needs a closer in the worst way.
He’d be claimed before the Cubs could outright him. (Jose Abreu had options.) Trade or release are possibilities. They’ll probably keep him for low leverage to see if he can bounce back.
Yeah I’m pretty sure Alzolay, Lovelady and Brewer are out of options. Lovelady and Brewer would probably go unclaimed but Alzolay will get picked up by somebody. The only way to do it would be to put him on the IL and then send him down for a rehab assignment. But I’m the last guy to ask about who has options left as I have no idea who does or doesn’t. Lovelady and Brewer could reject the assignment though. Lovelady wouldn’t be a huge loss but Brewer looks usable at times, But wouldn’t be a huge loss either.
Check out The Cub Reporter for detailed roster information regarding options, etc.
Jose abreu doesn’t have options, he’s apparently “agreed” to a “demotion” really just sounds to me like what teams/players need to start negotiating instead of these sketch/shady “injuries”/IL stints that seem to always “pop” up when guys are struggling, im sure many times the injuries are what have caused the struggles but with guys like abreu (age factors potentially) or Tellez with the crew last year (just a fat guy that can’t hit, Love the big fella but jeez..) some players just need stints in the minors to re-adjust/“re-find” themselves, or perhaps get in shape while learning to hit at all, I’d like to see teams move away from the IL “stints” and negotiate something mutually beneficial for management/team/player because isn’t that always better and there’s plenty to work with/potential for a mutually beneficial outcome, can’t explain how poorly run this “show” is when u really get into it.. also keeps guys from being a scapegoat/Epplered
I believe you have to have been previously DFA’d before and or have five years service time to reject an outright if you’ve cleared waivers, this stuff is convoluted and a bit ridiculous, they need to start over with a new CBA instead of trying to fix/adjust all this crap that simply doesn’t work, the players are giving up waaaayyyy too much, time the “stars” half stand up just one time for the “average” mlb’er/minor leaguer, im a right wing “nut job” but there’s ten BILLION$$ being shuffled around by mlb every year, there’s literally 100Xs more than enough for everyone to be wealthy, “stars” need to stop being 80’s Hulk Hogan and bending over for management/money and look out for his guys, people did this 100+ years ago when they literally had nothing but starving children at home, these guys will manage, it’s hard but better than the alternative of being turned into a bunch of slaves, u can be a 100 Million $$ slave….. just part of the cult..
True but nobody was going to claim Abreu on waivers with the money he’s still owed. That was the easiest decision ever made. And Abreu had to agree to go down or the Astros still would have had to pay him off.
Alzolay and Brewer are both out of options, Lovelady still has an option year.
I imagine Lovelady holds his spot until either Smyly comes off the IL or Little can return.
I imagine Edward’s is the next man up after Brewer gets DFA, he could possibly pass through waivers and be reassigned to AAA, I’m trying to remember who that was for the Twins a few years back, guy seemed to be called up, DFA, reassigned and then called up 2 weeks later. I believe he used to be a cub too and it irks me I cannot remember the name.
Btw FanGraphs show if a player has options or not.
I’d go with Arizona Phil for the Cubs. He’s on top of it and knows all the roster maneuvers inside out.
He’s got Lovelady with zero options. Probably the reason he’s been tossed around like a hot potato.
LOL. Yeah I don’t do homework anymore so don’t even bother to ask me. I have to want to look for myself, And I mostly don’t.
Chuck, in order to declare free agency, it’s three years of service for an outright or a previous outright. It’s five years for an option.
Abreu had to agree to be optioned, but he did have the options.
Id do a little shuffling
Crow Armstrong CF
Suzuki RF
Bellinger 1B
Busch 2B
Hoerner 3B
I’d move Morel to full time utility role he’s just not hitting enough.
I’d sell high in Tauchman to bring back a piece early.
Busch will hurt the team at 2B just like Morel hurts the team at 3B.
So you want bad defense and bad offense at 3B in Morel
But don’t want good offense at 1B in Bellinger
Good offense at 2B (least demanding position defensively compared to ss and 3b)
Good offense and defense at 3B?
Well enjoy missing the playoffs and screaming at the tv while morel fails to score runs and prevent runs I guess.
Good offense and defense at 1B in Bellinger*
You’re either a troll or a dolt.
Facts hurt. Deal with it.
Padres suck, Chargers suck, Clippers suck, Angels suck, Dodgers spent a billion dollars and aren’t much better than the Cubs, Giants suck. I can do that too Loser Boy.
Not a fan of either of those teams lmao. Failed. Something I’m sure you’re use to in life Mike. Your teams are trash and you’re trash. Match made in heaven.
If you’re curious who I’m actually a fan of here’s a hint. They’re better than your trash teams that call themselves professional sports franchises.
Attended San Diego State. I’m proud where I graduated from. See I can be proud of my degree in aerospace engineering. Something I worked hard for and earned.
Not something you can say about Cubs Bulls White Sox Bears Blackhawks. Nobody is proud of them. Rightfully so. Cause they’re trash. Your logo a clown cause all you could accomplish is graduating from clown school Mike? Makes sense. All you’re useful for i suppose. Bet you didn’t guess people would laugh at you with or without the clown costume though huh bozo?
Sleeping in a tent outside on School grounds doesn’t mean ” Attending ” A School. It means trespassing. And you would know that if you had made it inside. And as far as it goes Saying you even went to San Diego State is pretty lame. Like saying you attended Wottsamatta U. If you were gonna lie you should of said Stanford or a real school.
Holy hell Mike, how mentally challenged are you?
I don’t live in CA
Your comebacks miss more than
bears do on QBs,
Bulls and cubs do on winning championships
white Sox do on everything
Blackhawk do on scoring
Trash comebacks from a trash fan who supports trash organizations. Not a single comeback you made applied to me whatsoever lmao. Complete failure on your part clown.
Why’d I choose SDSU? Well Mike, if you had any brain cells or knew a thing or two which you don’t, you’d know San Diego has a huge military population especially Marines and Navy. I had great opportunities to work with those branches via civilian internships in college regarding their planes and helicopters while attending SDSU. Helped me build a nice resume that landed me a nice job and many promotions.
What opportunities has clown college afforded you besides trying to get close to other peoples kids?
Hey ‘rocket scientist’- Are you having your stroke in installments?
Hey buffoon. Did you think that was funny? Cause it wasn’t. Don’t quit your day job.
Clown boy asked why my logo is San Diego State. I answered. Bozo can throw insults but can’t take them apparently. Weak minded mental midget that one.
“I’d sell high in Tauchman to bring back a piece early.”
His career performance to date says he’s a below average hitter with solid fielding ability. 100 ab’s this season doesn’t drastically alter that. I doubt any GM thinks this is sustainable. He doesn’t get you back anything of major value.
??????????
.930
Busch has never played 2nd. At least not professionally. Morel is doing a lot better at 3rd. The only way he can improve is by playing everyday there’s. Busch isn’t even bad at 1B. Occasionally he’ll miss a pick chance at first but overall he’s been pretty solid.
I think Dylan Floro and Tanner Scott would be two attainable bullpen options right now. They could probably get something more impressive closer to the deadline, but right now that bullpen is an absolute mess. I also think it would be worth calling up Horton for a bullpen role to limit his innings.
Yeah, when I saw the Arraez trade, I figured Miami was open for business. And while he’s not a proven closer yet, I’d love to get Tanner Scott. And this is his walk year, so he shouldn’t cost quite as much in terms of prospect capital.
I didn’t know if you were saying his walk year as in he is leaving or walk year as in he has been walking an insane number of hitters.
Don’t confuse coop with actual facts.
Coop is a ‘thinker’ lol.
Wonder if Mastrobuoni, Canario and Valencia/Brewer get the boot when these 3 are activated?
Palencia
Mastrobuoni just got called back up today for Matt Mervis.
For Palencia if he can get bis command down, his slider is straight filthy.
That’s a big IF. Control has continually been his problem.
Little and Palencia have that same problem. Pretty sure it’s all mental and that they don’t have to throw every pitch 100 miles an hour and that a little movement is much more functional. 95 with a little late movement is much better at times. It’s nice to have 100 in your bag, But you don’t need it all the time.
A lot of people will disagree with me here but Smyly is the one reliever we have that “gets it”. He knows the hitters haven’t seen him, they haven’t prepped for him, their timing will be slightly off so he peppers the zone.
Nothing irritates me more than a reliever throwing first pitch balls. Even if they grove it right down the pipe odds are it’s weak contact or a miss.
Relievers for whatever reason try to get too cute. Go ahead and show the hitter your fastball twice and then go off speed or spin but get two strikes and carry on.
PCA should not be sent back down. He is much better. I know this isn’t the most popular opinion but I think PCA should be getting Happ’s spot and Happ should be traded, sat, whatever. Put Bellinger in LF, PCA in CF, Seiya in RF.
They can send down Wisdom despite him a 1/3 of the rbi today.
PCA belong in the majors.
The only thing I disagree with from Counsell is him putting Happ batting 3rd. He should absolutely not bat 3rd when Seiya return.
Belli might have to be eased back into the field. I’d put him at DH for a little bit when he returns. PCA has tremendous range and is the future CF for tbe Cubs.
I really can’t wait til ONKC(Owen Caissie) gets the call to the show. He’s gonna be really good for the Cubs. A very under the radar acquisition from Jed Hoyer
Mastrobuoni and Canario are the two who will be optioned. I get the thought of sending down Wisdom given that Bellinger will most likely need to eased back into center and PCA is playing well but P-Wiz is the break glass player and you don’t really want him being unavailable.
As I said before, Wisdom is a great guy to have on the roster in the event of an emergency, if Bellinger is playing first, odds are Busch is at DH (or vice versa). If something happens to the guy manning first, you run the risk of losing your DH (or being stuck with Madrigal at first).
Happ was batting 6th when Suzuki and Belli were healthy and will likely go back there once they’re back if not to the bench.
Happ was only batting 6th against lefties. Against righties he was batting leadoff. After Nico got hot they moved Happ to two.
I’ll be interested to see what CC does with Suzuki and Bellinger come back.
Talent wise, clearly PCA and Tauchman are there. Tauchman is a major reason why our offense hasn’t been completely horrible over the past couple weeks and PCA has been hot and covering a ton of ground.
The problem is however is both Tauchman and PCA are left hand hitters and neither hit same hand pitching very well. Happ also struggles against lefties and pretty much needs platooned at this point.
I personally, against righties anyway, would have Happ hit either first or second. He isn’t hitting a whole lot but he is getting on base. If Nico hits second, you might be able to take advantage of some hit and run opportunities. Also, let’s not forget Happ was a little banged up himself and finally looks like he is coming out of it.
I don’t think either Happ or Swanson is comfortable being “the guy(s)” which is why both struggled these several games.
Against lefties, I’m kind of at a loss with the outfield, take what little offense Happ provides? Go defensive heavy with PCA in center and Bellinger in left? Throw caution to the wind and roll Wisdom out there?
***Wisdom continued his destruction of the NL Central yesterday. That guy literally feasts within the division.
Dras—I think, obviously, it’s Canario down for Seiya—but I think it will be PCA for Belli. PCA loses all playing time when Belli is back—he, by no fault of his own, becomes the fifth outfielder as long as Belli is 100%. I don’t think it’s best for him to sit on the bench and he can’t take any time, at THIS point of the season on THIS team from Tauchman.
I do agree with you that Miles is the other option, but if one of them needs consistent playing time (iowa) it’s PCA at this time.
And to some of the other points in the thread (I was at the game yesterday so missed all the pitter patter). There’s a reason they have a back side to a baseball card. The real baseball people that get paid do NOT get emotional about Nico or Dansby making an error, Morel striking out, or Happ in a funk—they ride it out and let things normalize. They have an innate ability to be “involved” but keeping the emotion out of it.
Uncle—you’re a nice man, 67 years old—quit arguing at a kid’s mentality. 🙂 Or hit the mute button.
More interesting move of all of this is when Steele comes back (and Wicks, Hendricks and Smyly). I think Palencia goes first as he has options. Brewer can be DFAd, I guess.
Adbert has no options left so he has to stay on the roster.
I am typing this before the game today (in case he gets lit up) but I don’t see any way you can take Assad out of the rotation. I “think” Wesneski becomes the 7th-8th inning option. Brown?
Still about 135 practice games to figure it out. Lots of time.
Yeah every once in awhile I get sucked in and he’s muted. That’s 2 now in the last week after not having to do it in all the years I’ve been on this site. More refugees from X or Twitter or whatever are floating over just to be jerks. For all I know it’s the same guy. There are guys with 20 Avatars on here. The mute button is my friend now. Enjoy the game, Should be fun Mike.
I don’t think Bellinger is going to get regular time in center when he first comes back. I think both Suzuki and Bellie will need regular time off/cycle through dh. Bellinger, obviously, can always play first base so I think you’ll see him there some with Busch at DH.
Happs looked better but he could also easily be cycled through at DH as well and his struggles with lefties are documented. Regardless, I think there is plenty of playing time for Crow-Armstrong.
Dansby hasn’t looked like Dansby at short this year, he has the rep but given his throwing issues I could see him moved to second for Hoerner. It’s not likely and I don’t care about a single game but it seems more than just a one off
Cubs are getting quite lucky. Based on fWAR, they should 16-17 while based on Pythagorean Winning Percentage, they should be 17-15. They’re probably in for some negative regression.
Counsell’s teams in Milwaukee usually did that. Maybe it’s a small managerial edge here.
Alzolay has been lousy and Neris is a nibbler. Let’s give Brown a shot a closing. I know he’s a starter and I know he’s done pretty well, but it may be a necessity to get someone else at the back of that bullpen who can close the game.
Bring in Brown for a 4 out save. See how he does. He can’t see to get past the 5th unfortunately. But being a starter might benefit him going 2 innings to close out a game. The problem is having a starter work 2 days in a row is risky.
It’s risky if you are asking him to go multiple innings on back to back days but if he’s keeping his pitch count down I don’t see much of a concern.
I don’t know what to think about Thompson at this point, to me, it looks like his confidence is shot. I think a large part of it is the short hook he has gotten.
Two years ago, if Thompson gave up a home run, he just shook it off. He had this swagger where he didn’t believe anyone could hit him and if someone did, he just chopped it up as a fluke. Now, you can almost read Thompson’s mind on the mount when a player gets on base, he feel so much pressure to get out clean he starts missing badly, then he starts worrying about getting pulled, getting optioned etc