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).