Chicago Cubs: Five best options for designated hitter

Chicago Cubs: Could one of these guys end up as DH?

Whether it was Jorge Soler, Kyle Schwarber, Willson Contreras, Javier Baez, Jon Jay, Ben Zobrist, Ian Happ, Chris Coghlan, or Tommy La Stella, the Cubs have had a veritable smorgasbord of competent or even star players sitting around and waiting to get in a game at various points in time. Heck, you might also be able to put together an All-Star lineup with all of the guys who Maddon couldn’t squeeze into games over the past five seasons.

Herein lies the beauty of the DH for the team. While they may not be entirely as loaded as they were the past few years, there are still plenty of options to make the Cubs the favorites to score the most runs in the National League.

Any discussion about the team and the DH over the past few years has been ultra-focused on slugger Kyle Schwarber. While Schwarber had been a great option at the DH for the Cubs in recent seasons, that’s not the case now. The Cubs could put Ian Happ out in left field, but Happ isn’t a better or more natural left fielder than Schwarber despite being faster.

Plus, there’s an excellent chance Happ might end up in centerfield at some point, so having him go to left puts Albert Almora in center, something most Cubs fans probably don’t want to see (at least from an offensive perspective).

Chicago Cubs: One catches, one mashes

The next option for the Cubs involves two different choices with one move- our two talented catchers. Victor Caratini and Willson Contreras have both shown themselves to be competent or even All-Star level players when healthy. Keeping them healthy, however, is the considerable caveat with both.

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By mixing and matching the two backstops and getting them rest as the DH while the other catches would allow the Cubs to place two potent bats in the lineup while keeping both guys fresh and saving their knees. There’s also the question of moving Contreras to left or Caratini first to make the DH position available to someone like Rizzo or Schwarber, should the teams want to go that route.

If the Cubs went the catchers as DH tandem route, it would harken back to the days where Contreras, Miguel Montero, and David Ross all made their presence felt with the bat. If you remember (and I know all of you do), Joe Maddon had to juggle the three catcher deal and took some major guff because of it, but all three played a huge part in the 2016 playoffs that culminated in a trophy for the Cubs. In fact, all three homered in the 2016 postseason, including a Ross Game 7 job and Montero’s NLCS grand slam.

Chicago Cubs: Souza or Kipnis?

Granted, there are a ton of unknowns in general about the 2020 season, but these two guys could present even more of an unknown in this DH debate. Steven Souza Jr. and Jason Kipnis could provide an exciting platoon at the DH spot, with Souza serving as the right-handed option and Kipnis on the left side.

In addition to tracking down balls when called upon in the outfield, Souza could provide some pop against southpaws. At the same time, Kipnis (whose range is no longer what it once was) could allow someone like Nico Hoerner (if the Cubs are ready to pull the trigger full time) or David Bote to get most of the time at second base.

If Kipnis doesn’t end up on the roster, Happ could get the call from the left side of the DH platoon if he’s not in centerfield. If he is, someone like Robel Garcia could be a surprise guy in that spot. I’d say it’s possible Daniel Descalso could fill this role as well, but I think I saw enough of that show in 2019 to be comfortable in slamming the door shut on that possibility.