Cubs can in no way count on a David Bote bounceback performance

We’ll always have David Bote’s ultimate grand slam against the Nationals – but after back-to-back lackluster showings and a shoulder surgery that will delay his start next spring, it’s worth wondering if that’ll be the extent of his Cubs legacy when it’s all said and done.

In a new piece for The Athletic (subscription required), Eno Sarris broke down the 10 likeliest bounceback candidates heading into 2022 – and a pair of Chicago players found themselves on the list in Bote and veteran outfielder Jason Heyward.

With the emergence of Patrick Wisdom and Frank Schwindel at the corners and a middle infield combination of Nico Hoerner and Nick Madrigal, reps may be harder to come by for Bote, who batted just .199/.276/.330 in 97 games this season. You might want to blame his woes on the shoulder injury he suffered, but he was pretty not great prior to that, as well.

Bote has always hit the ball hard, but the results just haven’t been there. He’s been better than league average (using OPS+) only once in his career – and even then, he barely made the cut with a  104 mark back in 2019. Since the start of 2020, he’s hit only .200/.285/.353 which, needless to say, isn’t going to get you much in terms of playing time.

Which, again, brings us back to a key issue he’ll face next season: regular reps. It seems pretty safe to assume Chicago isn’t done adding – and if they add another infielder to the mix, an already difficult road to playing time gets even worse for Bote, who’s under team control through 2024, with team options for 2025 and 2026.

Chicago Cubs could look to trade David Bote if he returns healthy in 2022

I’ve talked quite a bit about the possibility of Jed Hoyer and Carter Hawkins cutting ties with Heyward should he struggle as badly as he did in 2021 – but that, admittedly, would be a big chunk of change to jettison ($22 million annually through 2023 for a total of $44 million). But the Cubs could do the same with Bote for just $11 million, although that seems unlikely given his long-term controllability and relative cost.

I suspect Chicago will see how Bote performs upon his return from shoulder surgery and, if he shows signs of getting back to his former self, he could be a decent trade piece to dangle come July. But the days of him looking like a long-term piece of the puzzle need to be behind us as the team looks forward toward a new era.

Will he bounce back? Maybe. If he does, it’ll be more of a product of just how brutally poor he performed last year rather than making real strides and improvements at the dish.