Chicago Cubs add outfield depth, sign Lane Adams to minor league deal

Depth is a great thing to have for any team. On Saturday, the Chicago Cubs added some outfield depth via a minor league contract after their loss in St. Louis.

Aside from Kyle Schwarber and Jason Heyward‘s combined RBI count of 31, there hasn’t been much offensive production from this Chicago Cubs outfield. I know, it’s rather early and there is plenty of time to turn things around.

Now, over the past three games, the Cubs have only managed to score five runs against the Rockies and Cardinals. Rather ugly compared to their tally of a whopping 58 runs during a 9-2 record from April 19-30th.

An impressive stretch that paved the way for the Cubs to take over first place before jumping into May. Hopefully, the bats of mid-April return in today’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals.

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Which brings us to why we are here. Following last night’s loss, it was reported by David O’Brien via Twitter that the Cubs and outfielder Lane Adams had agreed to a minor league contract.

He opted for free agency on April 27th after refusing an assignment with the Triple-A Gwinnett Stripers.

Lane, 28, signed a contract with the Cubs in 2016, and later signed with the Atlanta Braves that winter.

The former 13th round pick made his debut with the Royals as a pinch-runner for Raul Ibanez in 2014.

Solid numbers for limited time

When taking a look at his stats, you can’t help but imagine what a team could get out of him if he had more playing time. In 129 at-bats, Adams has belted six home runs, 24 RBI, one triple, four doubles, 34 total hits all while slashing .264/.338/.450/.788.

Not too shabby considering his longest big league run was with the Atlanta Braves in 2017 where he appeared in 85 games. So, where did he play and how well was he able to perform in the outfield?

Of all outfield spots, he has played nearly 100 innings out in left field, splitting 92 1/3 between right and center field. To add, he committed two errors in 2017 which was three less than Kyle Schwarber the same year.

Granted, Schwarber logged over 820 innings in left.

Where does he fit in?

As of right now, this outfield, lack of production or not, is swamped with talent who have the ability to start a hot streak. Specifically, Ian Happ and Albert Almora Jr.

Next: Cubs rally late in 3-2 loss to Cards

So, unless an outfield glove finds themselves on the disabled list, Adams should remain with the Triple-A Iowa Cubs. Either that or Joe Maddon feels like he needs an extra bat that suits his lineup.