Chicago Cubs: Could a prospect be a DH for AL Road Trip?

With interleague road games on the horizon for the Chicago Cubs, could some prospects get a sample of the big leagues? On June 9th and 10th the Cubs will visit the Detroit Tigers for a short two-game series, then the following week the Cubs will have five straight games visiting American League parks.

With these games right around the corner for the Cubs, is there a chance that they would call up Javier Baez, Kyle Schwarber, or Dan Vogelbach to give them some major league experience – or in the case for Baez, another shot at staying in the big leagues.

“We have some ideas and some thoughts. We’ll see how it plays.” Joe Maddon via CSNChicago.com

All three of the prospects have been mentioned in trade rumors this year; giving them an audition in the show could increase their value and possibly their demand of teams interested in bolstering their team with youth.

Currently, Baez is slashing .304/.382/.487, five homers, and 22 runs batted in with Iowa. He was also a favorite of manager Joe Maddon in spring training.

Schwarber with the Cubs’ Double-A affiliate, the Tennessee Smokies is slashing .312/.439/.599, 12 home runs, and 37 runs batted in.

Vogelbach, who also is with the Smokies has a stat line of .320/.436/.497, four home runs, and 24 runs batted in.

All three would valid candidates for a call up to serve as the Cubs’ DH during their road trips to the AL ballparks, but it also could be a good chance for Baez to show off his glove as well. He more so than the other two would likely see more time on the field because of his skill set with his glove.

CSN Chicago’s Patrick Mooney recently wrote a piece about this subject and has some quotes from Maddon on the potential scenario of a call-up for one of these prospects.  “Of course, all those guys are options,” manager Joe Maddon said Monday at Marlins Park. “There’s no doubt. (But) I don’t know where we’re going to go yet.”

Maddon said that they haven’t talked about Schwarber yet, but I’m sure the subject could come up if he continues to hit as well as he has been. But considering both Schwarber and Vogelbach are in Double A – it is less likely that they’ll get the quick call up for a short trip to the majors.

Baez, on the other hand, is in Triple-A and has already had his cup of coffee in the big leagues. Add that with the fact that he could help the Cubs on the field and allow maybe Castro to act as the Cubs’ DH for a couple of games – that seems like more of a likely scenario for the Cubs.

The only thing I could see changing the odds for Vogelbach would be to have this be an audition for American League teams as a potential trade for a veteran pitcher to help the starting rotation.

He is in his fifth minor league season and at the age of 22 years old, he is at a good point in his career that some team in need of a young first baseman/DH could be tempted if he did come up and put on a good showing for the Cubs.

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