Chicago Cubs: Does Patrick Wisdom’s success impact a Kris Bryant trade?

If you’ve been watching the Chicago Cubs lately, (and who hasn’t?) you have seen a remarkable debut for several Cubs rookies this year. Adbert Alzolay, Keegan Thompson, Justin Steele, and Tommy Nance are among the young pitchers who have generated excitement so far.

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There are also several promising position players among the youth movement. Most notable among them is Patrick Wisdom. When David Bote went down with his separated shoulder, Wisdom moved right in at third with some spectacular results especially at the plate. Can you say, “Wally Pip?”

Because he has had only 78 at-bats with three teams prior to this year, Wisdom still retains his rookie status (the cutoff is 150). He came into 2021 with a total of four homers in those seventy-eight appearances while so far this season he has doubled his total homers to eight, in just 23 AB!

Wisdom currently sports a .435 batting average, more than 150 points above his career average of .267. While that pace is ultimately sustainable it does foster some interesting speculations as the summer and trade deadline draw closer.

Chicago Cubs have to know Patrick Wisdom isn’t Kris Bryant

Wisdom is listed as playing third and first. He has also played right field this year. Except for center field, it looks as if Wisdom can play the same positions that Bryant does. With Bryant being eligible for free agency at this end of this year, is the Chicago Cubs front office more likely to consider trading Bryant because of Wisdom’s emergence? 

Ultimately, we’d better hope not. The Cubs have played themselves into early postseason contention. Will they be able to continue that success through the rest of the summer? And if so, will Kris Bryant be a part of that run? It’s just some of many questions about these Cubs and their future, that are yet to be answered.