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Chicago Cubs seem likely to stay in-house at second base
The Winter Meetings are underway and the Chicago Cubs will be looking to fill two roster holes. We look here at who the Cubs have to play second base.
The challenge ahead of the Cubs and their front office is not insignificant. Last season, Chicago employed seven different players at second base. No other team in baseball did this. There is little doubt it contributed to the decline in their defensive metrics at the position.
That’s not to say there aren’t quality options on the big league roster, either. It’s more that none of them took advantage of their opportunities to lock down the role in 2019 and you don’t know if they’ll be capable of locking it down moving forward, either.
While you’d like to see Theo Epstein go out and sign an impact talent to shore up the position in 2020, that doesn’t seem particularly likely, either. That is, unless the team comes off a key player like Willson Contreras or Kris Bryant via trade – thus creating some much-needed financial flexibility.
One thing, though, is clear. Establishing a regular presence alongside Javier Baez up the middle is a key to the Cubs righting the ship defensively and, hopefully, competing in the National League Central once again next year.
Chicago Cubs: Internal options on the roster
Robel Garcia, Daniel Descalso and David Bote carry over from the 2019 roster and, frankly, none of them stood out as the clear successor at second base.
Defensively Garcia rated a -6.7 UZR-150 from Fangraphs and a very subpar .927 fielding percentage. At the plate, his power burst out impressively at times, but he struck out a ton, didn’t get on base much, and barely took a walk.
Then there’s the head-scratching acquisition of Daniel Descalso. Okay, in 2019 his .978 fielding percentage and 1.9 UZR-150 made him the best defensive option at second among the three. But his bat was a total disaster. Not that he was ever a prolific hitter as his career .235/.320/.362 slash will confirm. Can he bounce back or is it time to move on?
Overall David Bote projects better than the other two. At second, his UZR-150 is even, and his .970 fielding percentage at second, while still below league average, is actually far better than his numbers at third. At the plate, Bote has shown improved pitch recognition and on-base skills, and over two seasons in the eight spot slashed .337/.479/.576 and 1.055 OPS in 39 games and 119 plate appearances.
That last point has to be considered. One huge failure of the Cubs last season was the inability of the bottom of the order to turn over the lineup. In other words, to feed the beasts lurking at the top. If Bote can put up numbers even close to those career numbers in the eight spot it would lengthen the line up considerably.
My concern with Bote is pairing him with Baez up the middle. He will have to up his game considerably to make that middle infield combination work successfully.
Chicago Cubs: Down on the farm
Maybe it’s time to go young. After all, we trusted Kris Bryant when he was 23 and Addison Russell at 21. Vimael Machin, Zack Short and Nico Hoerner are banging at the door.
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Machin is not much talked about as a prospect, though my colleague recently opined that might be about to change. In 26 games and 56 plate appearances over two seasons in Iowa, the 26-year-old slashed .302/.464/.442 with a .906 OPS. In addition, he struck out only nine times while drawing 13 walks. However, his fielding percentage at second suffered at Triple-A, dropping from .989 in AA to .923 in Iowa. Some more seasoning is in order in winter ball, but a Spring Training invite ought to be in the cards.
The 24-year-old Short represents the second of the Cubs kids knocking at the door. His Iowa debut wasn’t earth-shattering. A .211/.338/.414 slash and .751 OPS didn’t exactly set the world on fire. Neither did his .926 fielding percentage in 114 innings at second base. His offense and defensive numbers rebounded a bit in the 2019 Arizona Fall League, but Short is probably the furthest away from the Show of the three.
That brings us to Nico Hoerner and his impressive 2019 MLB debut. He went 3-for-5 in his first game with a triple and four RBI. He homered in his first home game. In his first nine contests, the 22-year-old slashed .351/.400/.568 with a .968 OPS. Ah, the stuff of which dreams are made.
Then a bit of reality set in. Over his last 11 games, he slashed just .211/.214/.317 with a .531 OPS. All of this is far too small a sample size to judge either way, but most observers believe Hoerner will start in Iowa in 2020 and could be ready by 2021.
Chicago Cubs add an intriguing high upside arm via free agency. dark. Next
David Bote seems the internal favorite at second if only because his bat plays better than either Garcia or Descalso. However, don’t rule out one the kids throwing their hat in the ring during Spring Training.