Chicago Cubs: The Carlos Gonzalez experiment is hardly a failure

Chicago Cubs: Team is working with what it has right now

During Zagunis’ short stint in the big leagues this season he rarely played and he failed to produce when he did. He only played in 29 games and took a total of 35 at-bats in which he hit just .257 at the plate. He also struck out 15 times in comparison to just four walks which adds up to a 3.75 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

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Not to mention, Gonzalez’s glove in the outfield is considerably better than that of Zagunis. For proof, I don’t think you need to look any further than Gonzalez’s potential game-saving catch against the Los Angeles Angels in his first game as a Cub. Gonzalez is still a 3-time Gold Glove winner, after all.

As for Adduci, there’s really not much to say. He could never really have been a serious option in the Cubs outfield, he made sense to bring up as opposed to burning someone else’s options. He appeared in just two games, took five at-bats and failed to record a hit while striking out three times.

Of course, the Cubs also could have called up Ian Happ who has been working on his game at Triple-A. But it still doesn’t look like they are ready to call him back up just yet as he’s hitting just .221 at the plate and has struck out 89 times this season. The Gonzalez signing allows Happ to continue his work in the minors and they don’t have to rush him and risk jeopardizing his development.

As for Gonzalez, if he really continues to struggle and doesn’t figure it out the Cubs can always release him. They got him on a cheap deal and aren’t hamstrung financially by him.

But for the time being, there really aren’t any better options. For now, I see the CarGo experiment continuing unless the Cubs are able to find a better option via the trade market or decide to call someone up.