It's time for the Cubs to immediately pull the plug on this project

The Chicago Cubs are one heck of a feel good story these days.

Fresh off a two-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers, they continue to sit atop the NL Central and boast one of the best offenses in Major League Baseball. Of course, not everything is going perfectly.

Staff ace Justin Steele is on the IL, and DH Seiya Suzuki could be headed there. The Cubs just DFA’d Gage Workman and previously sent top prospect Matt Shaw to AAA Iowa. Oh, and there’s a veteran bat who was brought in as a slugger, who has been anything but. And it’s time for the Cubs to end the Justin Turner experiment.

Turner was brought in late in the offseason after the Cubs struck out on former Astros third baseman Alex Bregman as a bench bat who could spell Michael Busch and play a little DH. However, he’s gotten more playing time than I hope Jed Hoyer thought he would thanks to repeated injuries to Suzuki and for one reason or another, he continues to bat in the heart of the lineup.

The Justin Turner experiment isn't working for the Cubs

That, despite the fact that Turner has just 6 hits in 48 plate appearances. Every hit has been a single. His hard hit rate is sitting at a career low by a wide margin. His K rate is at a career high by an equally wide margin. And his batting run value according to Baseball Savant is below zero (-4) in what would be the first time in his career if that’s how he finishes in 2025.

Meanwhile, Cubs farmhand Moises Ballesteros continues to hit anything and everything that comes his way. His .377/.430/.558 slashline is raising eyebrows and wondering when he might be called up to Chicago.

If Seiya does go on the IL (and considering this is the third time he’s missed time with this injury, he should), it would behoove the Cubs to call up Ballesteros and make him the DH. This allows the big club to see what it has in a young prospect, possibly juice up the lineup, and give Suzuki the time off he needs.

Of course, in order to call up the youngster, the Cubs will need to make room on the 40-man roster. Luckily, Turner is right there for the DFA’ing. And while the price tag for that will be high ($5 million+) it’s a price Hoyer and company should be willing to pay.

The Cubs are in a situation they need to capitalize on. They need to pounce and put winning ahead of saving a few dollars. And when Seiya does come back from the IL, Moises can head back to AAA to continue working on things, and the Cubs could call up a veteran bench piece, or maybe even Matt Shaw should he show he’s figured things out.

Should Seiya not find himself on the IL, there still needs to be a change in how the team handles Turner. So far, manager Craig Counsell has plugged the veteran hitter into the third spot in the order, and it’s killed many a rally. If Turner is going to stick around, Suzuki IL or not, he simply has to get moved down in the order. 

Either way, the Cubs need to pull the plug on the way they’re using Justin Turner. He’s nothing more than veteran baggage at this point.