Should the Cubs give Robel Garcia another shot?

Injuries are piling up on the Chicago Cubs roster, making an already tough situation that much more difficult. The middle infield alone has Nico Hoerner day-to-day, with Nick Madrigal and Andrelton Simmons on the 10-day IL and David Bote (remember him?) on the 60-day IL. Simmons and Bote have not even played yet this year.

The Cubs have had to reach down into the Minors to get some reinforcements. There is a familiar face in Triple-A Iowa that has yet to be called up and is having himself a nice season so far in our old friend Robel Garcia. Many fans remember his days in the Cubs organization back in 2019 when he played in 31 games at the MLB level with the team. While he is not a solution long-term, or a savior for that matter, it might be worth considering bringing him up while the club tries to get healthy.

What does Robel Garcia have to offer the Cubs as they battle injuries?

The 29-year-old infielder returned to the Cubs organization in 2022 via free agency after spending 2021 with the Houston Astros. So far with the Iowa Cubs, he is hitting .290/.409/.658 with seven homers in 24 games.

Garcia’s first MLB stint came with the Cubs in 2019, where he got off to a pretty good start before fading hard. He ended up hitting .208/.275/.500 with five home runs, two triples and .775 OPS in 31 games. To no surprise, strikeouts were high with 35 in 80 plate appearances. Last season with the Astros hit just .151 with one home run in 46 games.

This is not exactly the best pitch for Garcia, and admittedly he is not an ideal solution for more than a short period of time, but right now the Cubs don’t have much to lose and they need someone. At the very most they could use some depth while Hoerner and Madrigal are ailing. In that first stint, he did showcase decent pop, and he has already hit seven bombs with Iowa this year. He is also a switch hitter, which is nice.

The team had called up Ildemaro Vargas to help fill in a spot, but at the big league level, I think Garcia has more to offer at the big league level. Vargas had a nice RBI triple on Friday night but has also struggled on defense, at times.

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At the end of the day, it stinks the Cubs are in this position. If Hoerner was healthy and Madrigal was hitting like he was last year, and also not on the IL, we would not be talking about this. But they are in this situation, and while Garcia is more or less an “AAAA Player”, he should get a chance to at least be a temporary filler until the team gets healthier.