Top 10 young players important to the Chicago Cubs future

2. IF/OF Christopher Morel

It's hard to believe that Christopher Morel was just 22 years old when he made his major league debut last May. Now a year later, after beginning the season in Iowa, Morel is on an absolute tear at the plate with 9 home runs on the season in his first 13 games played. That already puts him second on the team behind only the slumping Patrick Wisdom. Because of a couple of IL stints from Nico Hoerner and Cody Bellinger respectively, Morel has been able to squeeze into the lineup every day while playing all over the diamond and being slotted into virtually every spot in the lineup in his historical tear.

The problem is when Cody Bellinger comes back, the path for everyday playing time gets murky for Morel. However, I would opt for Morel to be the starting third baseman over Patrick Wisdom. Wisdom may be the best defensive third baseman on the active roster, and he may be leading the team in home runs, but I would rather see him platoon at DH with Mancini so Morel can play third. The only way Morel can exceed on defense is by playing one position, and third base makes the most sense with all the other spots filled. He is also 8 years younger than Wisdom so he hasn't even hit his physical prime yet while Wisdom is years removed from his. Also, Nick Madrigal has no business getting reps at third while Morel is on the team.