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The news of the day on Monday was that the Chicago Cubs made the decision to promote utility player Christopher Morel to the Major League level after his hot start to the season with Triple-A Iowa.
Outfielder Nelson Velazquez was optioned to Triple-A Iowa in order to make room for Morel on the 26-man roster. Prior to the Cubs' 3-1 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday, Cubs manager David Ross spoke with reporters about what Morel's role will be with the team moving forward.
Ross on how Morel will be used: "I don't know that there's this big path for everyday at-bats. The ability to get Velázquez back (to AAA) & not let him sit on the bench & some ability to mix Mo in time to time is probably going to be more of a role than just everyday at-bats."
— Meghan Montemurro (@M_Montemurro) May 8, 2023
It would be curious to find out what changed within the Cubs' organization this past weekend. It was this past Friday that both Ross and president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer told reporters that Morel would not be promoted to the Major League level until there was indeed a path to everyday at-bats.
Interestingly enough, Ross was faced with a decision almost immediately on Monday night in regard to how to deploy Morel. Cubs' second baseman Nico Hoerner was pulled from the game on Monday while advancing from first to third in the bottom of the fifth inning. Instead of opting to utilize Morel, arguably the team's fastest player, as a pinch runner for Hoerner in that situation, Ross opted for Nick Madrigal who was thrown out at home on a failed sacrifice fly attempt.
Now, it is entirely possible that the Cubs wanted to give Morel a day off after traveling to Chicago on Monday to join the Major League team. Morel played in both games of a doubleheader with the Iowa Cubs over the weekend and with the travel on Monday, it would seem likely that he makes his season debut on Tuesday,
It is worth noting that Morel has played exclusively in the outfield over the course of the past three weeks with the I-Cubs.