Tyler Covin Optioned To Iowa

The Chicago Cubs certainly know how to bring out anger among their own fans. After a flat-out embarrassing loss, the Cubs decide to enrage their fan base a little bit more. After the game, general manager Jim Hendry announced that outfielder Tyler Colvin has been optioned to Triple A-Iowa.

That is not the enraging part. The part that is so frustrating is how Hendry tries to warrant the decision.

“It’s something he definitely needs to go play,” general manager Jim Hendry said. “He had a really good year for us and since the first days of spring training he never played up to that level. We’re in the production business.“It wasn’t that he wasn’t given enough at-bats. He didn’t earn enough at-bats. The other guys here outplayed him, too., He needs to go down and play for a few weeks and once he does we can go back to the plan we had for him. he completely understood and was looking forward to getting some at-bats.”  Chicago Tribune

Don’t be confused people, Hendry did attempt to lie his way out of making the Tyler Colvin demotion seem reasonable. The reason Tyler Colvin was demoted was because he did not earn at bats and not because he wasn’t getting at bats. Interesting. If Hendry did the least bit of research into Tyler Colvin this season, he would have saw–like we all did–that Tyler Colvin was a victim of not getting at bats. It is impossible to expect anything out of hitter when he is strictly relegated to pinch hit duty.

Tyler Colvin and Starlin Castro are both considered prospects, and are both a big part of the long-term planning for the Cubs. And, yet the Cubs contradict themselves with how they handle the two. Castro–albeit a much better hitter than Colvin–does not spend long spurts on the bench if he is struggling offensively. The Cubs continue to go with Castro, because they want to see how he adjusts, and then progress from there. Meanwhile, because Colvin struggles as a pinch hitter, Mike Quade feels that he is undeserving of starting on a regular basis.

There is only one stat that needs to be looked at when it comes to Colvin. That, of course, is his OPS. For the season, Colvin has an OPS when facing a pitcher for the first time in a game of .188. But if Colvin stays in the game long enough to reach a second and third at bat then his OPS jumps to around .750. Meaning that Colvin is in desperate need of at bats in order to perform to the abilities that he is capable of. But, Hendry must have overlooked this when making the decision.

No decision has been made of what the corresponding move will be, but in all likelihood, Lou Montanez will get the call up from Iowa. Which considering Tyler Colvin has already been sent down, the Cubs would be making the right decision by calling up Montanez. Montanez would fit into the role that Quade had Colvin in, which is a reserve outfielder that comes off the bench as a pinch runner, defensive upgrade, and occasional pinch hitter.