Chicago Cubs: If Baez isn’t healthy for Opening Day, who makes the roster?

Yesterday Cubbie’s Crib’s own Jake Misener wrote about how Javier Baez injury proves how valuable the team’s depth is. Today we’ll take a look at who might take his place on the roster if Baez has to begin the season on the disabled list.

Remember beginning last year the minimum time on the disabled list was shortened to 10 days. If the Cubs could do it over again, I think they would have moved quickly to put a player such as Ben Zobrist on the disabled list with his nagging wrist injury last year. So they might put Baez on the disabled list to begin the season.

In case you haven’t heard Javier Baez current health status is uncertain. On Thursday, March 8th Baez suffered what he originally thought was a cramp. He even thought he could be back in the lineup by as early as Saturday.

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What if he misses Opening Day?

However, Friday Baez underwent an MRI. The fear is that he injured his hamstring. Fortunately, the injury is being called “minimal.” The MRI results came back revealing no serious signs of a hamstring injury. For now, Baez is expected to remain sidelined for a little while.  Joe Maddon even said, “…if it were during the season, we’d be a little more aggressive.”

This year there is almost no mystery as to who will make the Cubs Opening Day roster if everyone is healthy. Victor Caratini or Chris Gimenez competing to begin the season as the backup catcher is about the closest thing to an Opening Day roster decision.

And with that issue, it seems to be mostly assumed that the veteran Gimenez will begin the season with the big league club. While he’s there hopefully, Gimenez can also provide some sage advice to help Willson Contreras improve his pitch framing and game calling abilities. Caratini will probably be sent to Triple-A so he can get more playing time to work on his receiving skills and continue to improve as a hitter.

Already going to be “full-up” at pitcher

Sometimes when a position player is injured the team will use that roster spot as an opportunity to put an extra pitcher on the roster. The Cubs are not going to do that in this situation. The Cubs are already projected to carry 13 pitchers and only 12 hitters on the Opening Day 25 man roster. In essence, they already were planning on carrying an extra pitcher on the roster.

If they used Baez’s DL stint as an opportunity to delay losing Eddie Butler (who is out of minor league options), that would leave the Cubs with just three hitters on the bench. One of those would be a backup catcher. Even with all the position flexibility that players such as Zobrist, Ian Happ and Kris Bryant offer that is just too few hitters to have a viable bench.

No, if the Cubs are going to hang onto Butler or begin the season with an extra lefty in the bullpen such as Dario Álvarez or Randy Rosario, it is going to take an injury on the pitching staff to allow that to happen. And if there is an injury to someone on the pitching staff (such as Pedro Strop’s slow recovery from a sore calf) we may see the opposite. The Cubs may fill an injured pitcher’s roster spot by calling up an extra position player.

Freeman might be a possibility

As great as the Cubs positional flexibility is, shortstop is one of the positions where the Cubs don’t have a lot of overlap. The depth at shortstop is Addison Russell and Baez. Last year when Russell missed some time Baez played shortstop almost every day.

Zobrist has started 196 games at shortstop in his career. But none of those have happened since he left Tampa Bay. Kris Bryant has played one career inning at shortstop. So if Baez isn’t on the Opening Day roster the Cubs don’t have a second option at shortstop.

Why they got Freeman

This is why the front office went out and acquired Mike Freeman last year after Russell went on the disabled list. Freeman is back in the Cubs organization. So if the Cubs decide they need to have a backup shortstop on the roster, Freeman is the most likely option.

However, last season he did not hit particularly well (only .160). So if Freeman makes the roster it will it be almost entirely out of defensive concerns. Unless you take into account his spring. Freeman is torching the ball, hitting .500 (14-for-28) with a home run, three doubles and eight RBI.

If Baez’s injury is seen as a short-term issue, the team may decide to try to just get by with Russell at shortstop. And maybe use Zobrist there if an emergency situation occurs. Zobrist did log 11 innings at shortstop last year. There are the usual high number of days off in the Cubs early season schedule, which will also help the Cubs manage their way through April with only one shortstop if they must.

Cubs don’t need to dig too deep

The Cubs have a few prospects who are already on the 40 man roster which makes calling them up to the majors an easier transaction.

Mark Zagunis is arguably the best hitter the Cubs will have waiting in Triple-A (.267/.404/.455) for major league at-bats. So Baez’s injury could be his first opportunity this season to get some playing time in the majors.

Don’t forget about Caratini’s bat. He’s a switch hitter who in Triple-A last year showed that he could hit for average (.342). Also, some power (10 HR, 27 2B, three 3B) and walk a decent rate (27 walks in 326 plate appearances). In addition to playing catcher, Caratini also saw substantial time at first base last year, so he adds a little bit of positional flexibility.

The “three-catcher” days

At the beginning of the 2015 season, the Cubs were forced to carry three catchers on the roster (Miguel Montero, David Ross and Welington Castillo). Castillo had an especially difficult time finding playing time and he was eventually traded away.

Caratini could make the argument that he is an even better bat than Zagunis.  But if he were to take Baez’s place on the roster it would be primarily as a pinch hitter who would rarely if ever stay in the game to play a defensive position. That won’t allow for much playing time.

The Cubs may have three catchers in the majors at some point, but I doubt they begin this season that way. It didn’t work at the beginning of 2015. So I predict that either Caratini wins the second string catcher job over Gimenez or he starts the year at Triple-A.

What about Bote?

David Bote is a prospect and utility man who was added to the 40-man roster this winter to protect him from the Rule 5 draft. He has played every position in the minors except for catcher and center field. However, he’s played the fewest innings at shortstop out of all of the infield positions.

And Bote didn’t even play a single inning as a shortstop last season at Double-A. Since Bote doesn’t provide much of a backup shortstop option, I doubt he begins the season in the majors. However, Bote is hitting .270 (10-for-37) with one double, a triple, a home run and six RBI.

The last of the contenders

Charcer Burks may be the future Jacob Hannemann. Again, another speedy, defensive outfielder who needs to improve his hitting if he is going to stick in the major leagues. Baseball America currently ranks him as the No. 14 prospect in the Cubs organization. He’s not yet ready for the majors yet so that the Cubs won’t call him up. But Burks is a prospect to keep an eye out for.

Ryan Court is a 29-year-old veteran infielder who plays shortstop the least of all the infield positions. Without being much of an option as a shortstop the Cubs figure to use either a better bat or a better defensive player to call up in Baez’s place.

Others of note

Chesny Young is a 25-year-old infield prospect. Baseball America lists him in their “Others of Note” section. So he isn’t thought of that highly. But every once in a great while one of those players turns out to be Willson Contreras. Unlike most of the other infielders, Young does play a substantial amount at shortstop.

Last year at Triple-A he started 26 games at shortstop. Compared to 44 at second base, 22 at third base, eight at first base and a combined 14 at all three outfield positions. So he is a utility man in the making with true shortstop ability. He currently isn’t on the 40 man roster yet. But if he would help the team? It wouldn’t be a difficult choice to add him.

Next: The Cubs won't be haunted by the Jimenez trade

Hopefully, Baez’s injury is truly minor and this whole thing was just an academic exercise. However, the Cubs have experienced some minor injuries in recent years that turned out to last much longer than first thought. Dexter Fowler getting hurt shortly before the 2016 All-Star break immediately comes to mind.

My prediction is if Baez is on the disabled list on Opening Day, but expected back shortly thereafter? Zagunis will begin the season in the majors. If Baez isn’t expected to be out an extended period? I’d expect Freeman will be on the Opening Day roster.