Chicago Cubs: How are replacements faring compared to the former core?

Chicago Cubs: Javier Baez has left plenty to be desired in the Big Apple

This week, New York Mets owner Steve Cohen voiced his displeasure over his team’s seeming lack of plate discipline. Now, for any Cubs fans who spent the last five-plus years watching Javier Baez, you know that this is obviously not an area of the game where he excels.

Currently on the IL, Baez has batted just .171/.216/.343 in 10 games with the Mets. Combined between New York and Chicago, he’s struck out in more than 36 percent of his plate appearances this year, leading all of baseball with 145 punchouts, and his walk rate ranks in the bottom two percent of the league.

Defensively, he’s taken a big step in the wrong direction, as well. Baez is tied for the big league lead with 20 errors this year. Of course, he’s still capable of transforming a game in a lot of ways, but this season has done little to solidify his standing in a loaded free agent class of shortstops.

Since the trade, David Ross has largely alternated between Andrew Romine and Sergio Alcantara at shortstop. Of course, we know the team-level results, but let’s look at each guy’s performance in Baez’s stead.

Romine, who made history pitching to his brother, Austin, behind the dish in a recent lopsided loss, had a huge clutch moment against the White Sox – taking former Cubs closer Craig Kimbrel deep late – but, by and large, he’s been a major weak spot on a team loaded with weakness.

In Chicago, Romine has been good for just a 52 OPS+, batting .214/.250/.310. He’s a stopgap measure to get the team through the season and nothing more. Alcantara, meanwhile, has struggled – although not quite as badly – hitting .194/.287/.347. So while Baez is hurt and has struggled, it’s not like the Cubs are doing a whole lot without him at the shortstop position, either.

Chicago Cubs: Anthony Rizzo, Frank Schwindel have both been on a tear

While there hasn’t been a whole lot to talk about at the shortstop position, first base is an entirely different story. First, let’s start with Rizzo, who was sent to the Bronx one day prior to the trade deadline, leaving Cubs fans everywhere dumbstruck.

When he’s been on the field for New York, good things has happened. Rizzo missed time after a COVID infection that sidelined him more than a week, but if you look past that, he’s been exactly what the Yankees wanted and then some. In 11 contests, he’s done pretty Rizzo-esque things, playing an above-average first base and putting up a .256/.354/.487 line, to boot.

But here’s where it gets interesting. Frank Schwindel, who has handled the bulk of first base duties for the Cubs here in August, has been on a tear – and ranks as one of the best hitters in all of baseball during that span. He carries an entirely uncharacteristic .365/.403/.683 line that’s definitely not sustainable in any way, shape or form, but has given us all something to smile about as the team continues their free fall in the standings.

It’s hard to think Schwindel manages to put up these numbers here in the final six weeks of the season and even harder to fathom Chicago trotting him out as the Opening Day starter in 2022. But, hey, stranger things have happened and for now, none of us have a problem with this guy doing his best MVP impression on the North Side.

Kris Bryant is bashing while the Chicago Cubs look for an heir at the hot corner

I’d be shocked if Kris Bryant doesn’t spend the rest of his career in the Bay Area. He’s looked perfectly at home with the Giants, and even belted another home run in his first AB on Saturday against the rival Athletics at the Coliseum – his 22nd of the year and fourth in 18 games with San Francisco.

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He talked about his experience recently – and gushed over the organization and how it seems to fit him as a player and a person. Meanwhile, the Cubs have looked to a combination of Patrick Wisdom, Matt Duffy and David Bote at the hot corner, to varied results.

Wisdom, who got off to a scorching start, has gone ice-cold over his last 15 games, evidenced by a .186/.239/.419 slash. His strikeout rate is absurdly high at 39 percent and if he doesn’t re-adjust, this feel-good story could meet an untimely conclusion by the end of the season.

Duffy, who was a huge plus for the team early on in the year, is settling back into a groove at the dish and entered Saturday flirting with a .350 average over the last two weeks. Bote has been pretty not great, as has been the case for awhile now, and he clocks in roughly 35 percent below league average as an offensive player, according to OPS+.

All told, it’s about what you expect when you trade three stars with an eye toward the future. There are some intermittent bright spots, but the Cubs are clearly a rebuilding team just running out the clock on the 2021 season while former stars chase pennants on each coast.