Chicago Cubs: Feel good story Robel Garcia optioned to Iowa

There was bound to be a casualty in adding several players to the Chicago Cubs’ roster. Robel Garcia was the odd-man-out, but he’ll be back soon.

After all the additions the Chicago Cubs made at the deadline? There were bound to be a few on the outside looking in. As Jesse Rogers reported, Robel Garcia was on the short end of that stick.  One of the other ‘casualties’ of Nicholas Castellanos addition was Oscar De La Cruz. To make room for Castellanos, De La Cruz was designated for assignment. He was on track for the majors before an 80-game suspension set him back. 

The story of Garcia is well known, as we’ve mentioned it a few times. He started hot and was a breath of fresh air to the Cubs and their second base situation. But MLB pitchers finally caught on, and Garcia wasn’t cutting it anymore. He’ll have some time to figure things out in Triple-A before he likely is called up again in September.

One of the statistics that point to his struggles came from Jordan Bastian on Twitter.

In the words of Major League’s Pedro Cerrano?

"‘Bats, they are sick. I cannot hit curveball. Straightball I hit it very much. Curveball, bats are afraid.’"

Garcia wasn’t bad in his short stint in Chicago. He slashed .220/.254/.525 with a .779 OPS. But he did most of that damage early on, and pitchers quickly learned what not to throw him. He had a .300 BABIP, so when he made contact, it was good. But as mentioned above, he was over 55 K% on offspeed pitches.

He’s just 26, and can still make a mark with this Cubs team. Ben Zobrist‘s contract expires after this season, and the rest of the second base crew hasn’t got the job done. For now, Tony Kemp is going to get his shot at second base.

David Bote hasn’t done well. Daniel Descalso–well, I just don’t want to talk about him. Addison Russell came back from his suspension but couldn’t seize the spot, and was eventually sent down to Triple-A.

Unless the Cubs are looking to go out and sign a second baseman again next winter, Garcia is going to have a chance to win the position. He’ll likely have to battle Bote and Russell. And to be honest, I don’t see Descalso making it through the winter with the Cubs. Kemp is the wild card, here. He’s a utility man, so we’ll see how handles his time at second.

Garcia has promise. But like many of the Cubs young hitters? They plenty of power to go along with a lot of swing and miss. Unfortunately, we can’t have the entire roster filled with those types of players. Eventually, you’re going to need patient guys who can take a walk or settle for singles. That seems like a tall task for the Chicago Cubs.