The summer of Mike Tauchman should be over for the Chicago Cubs

Mike Tauchman will always be an important player when talking about the story of the 2023 Chicago Cubs.

After all, it was Tauchman's game-winning catch against the St. Louis Cardinals the Friday before the Major League Baseball Trade Deadline that convinced Cubs' president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer that the team should be buyers.

Beyond, Tauchman's defensive efforts, there was a stretch where he was serving as a catalyst of the Cubs' offense given his ability to draw walks from the leadoff spot.

But, as the Cubs continue to look for levers to pull in an effort to make the post-season, the team should be moving away from Tauchman being an everyday player.

On Monday, the Cubs promoted top prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong and manager David Ross told reporters that while Crow-Armstrong will have starts mixed in down the stretch, he is not going to lose sight of the players that got the Cubs to this point and that includes Tauchman.

The issue is that Tauchman is showing serious signs of regression to being the player who was out of Major League Baseball since 2021.

Over the course of the past month, Tauchman is slashing .173/.302/.198 with a wRC+ of 50 in his last 96 plate appearances.

If the debate regarding Crow-Armstrong's playing time moving forward is that Ross does not want to take Tauchman out of the lineup, then the Cubs manager is making a mistake.

Crow-Armstrong's bat may not be fully ready for the Major League level but the floor would be the production that the team is currently receiving from Tauchman. Where Crow-Armstrong should have the edge over Tauchman is that the Cubs' top prospect is already the fastest player on the team and there is a belief among many talent evaluators that he is already capable of playing Gold Glove-caliber defense in the outfield.

Tauchman certainly should be appreciated for his contributions to the Cubs this season but he is no longer the right lever to pull moving forward if the team wants to put their best effort forward in hopes of making the post-season.

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