The Cubs announced a flurry of roster moves this evening, most prominently sending second baseman Nick Madrigal to the 10-day IL with low back tightness. The team also selected Triple-A infielder Ildemaro Vargas’s contract, designating right-handed pitcher Adrian Sampson for assignment to open up a 40-man roster spot for Vargas.
Madrigal, acquired in last season’s cross-town trade for Craig Kimbrel, was hitting a pedestrian .203/.250/.241 (43 OPS+) at the time of his IL placement. There’s still plenty of time for the 25-year-old to turn it around when he returns to the field, though a few things stick out in his early season offensive performance. Chief among them, Madrigal’s elite contact abilities have eluded him to a notable extent thus far.
His 16.7% strikeout rate, while considerably better than the league average, is more than double his career rate entering the season. The former first-rounder is hitting the ball with more authority than ever, however, which may eventually lead to a more impressive batting line than the one that is currently present. Madrigal’s defense has also remained top-notch, largely offsetting the contact hitter’s lack of offense in the eyes of most defensive metrics.
Vargas meanwhile returned to the organization this winter on a minor league deal and was hitting .279/.321/.413 in 25 Triple-A contests. Offense isn’t Vargas’s calling card though, as his promotion stems from his ability to play all around the infield, a must-have for a three-man Cubs bench.
Sampson, another offseason minor league signee, pitched to an excellent 2.80 ERA in 35 plus innings (10 games) for the Cubs last season as a swingman. Advanced metrics weren’t terribly bullish about his performance however, which helps explain the minor league pact and the right-hander’s lack of opportunity with the big league team this season. The 30-year-old has continued to have a decent run in Triple-A this year, so it will be interesting to see if the Cubs can keep him in their organization as depth or if a team hurting with injuries will seek to claim him in the coming days.
14 K in 79AB this year and 17 K in 200AB last year. Overcompensating with his approach?
Hopefully it’s a temporary thing. Maybe it’s just lack of confidence in the heal and he’s cheating too much (make sense for a younger player). He’s the type of player I’d like to see do well.
He’s got the upside of a top 5-7 2nd basemen. Hopefully he pulls it together.
Madrigal might have the upside of a top 7 2b if he maintains elite contact. The top 7 2b in MLB last season put up 4 plus fWAR. He would obviously need to maintain strong defense and base running also to crack the top 10 due to his lack of power.
Madigral doesn’t have the protection around him with the Cubs’ batting order like he use to have with the White Sox. Just saying!
Gotta root for a guy with that name. A real Renaissance man.
Bad start for season for Madrigal.
Making Rick Hahn look better, that’s for sure
AJ Pollock certainly isn’t making him look any better, should’ve just kept Kimbrel. Especially with the continued struggles of Hendriks.
Probably the worst comment I’ve read on this board when you consider that Hahn traded Madrgial and Heuer for Kimbrel and Kimbrel was atrocious for the White Sox…. Then he turned around and traded Kimbrel for Pollock, Pollock has been a disaster for the Sox and Kimbrel has been nails for the Dodgers.
So lets look at value thus far for Hahn… between Kimbrel and Pollock his net return has been -0.5 WAR.
Between Kimbrel (Dodgers), Madrigal and Heuer, that has been a net +0.8 WAR
I’m not sure what kind of common core math you learned as a child but we you come out with a negative WAR on both trades, that doesn’t make you look “better”…. unless you are looking it as a glass not completely empty situation where you can say “hey at least Nicky Barrels isn’t playing at an All-Star level and Heuer isn’t racking up saves for the Cubs this season”
“Pedestrian” is a very generous description of a 43 OPS+. I’d call it horrendous.
I liked this trade at the time. I felt like he was going to finish his development as a slightly better Darwin Barney. Solid defensive player with a slightly better bat. Again, that was just my take on it. I hope he turns it around, this team needs something to cheer for.
Nick Madrigal has always been able to hit. He’s also had his share on injuries, especially at the MLB level. His current hitting issue since joining the Cubs could be related to his two most recent injuries or perhaps due to their organizational prioritization of advanced analytics.
Madrigal hit while attending the baseball factory of Elk Grove High School in California which resulted in the Indians drafting him in the 17th round of the 2015 MLB June Amateur Draft. He honored his commitment to Oregon State and became one of the most elite pure hitters in college baseball which resulted in the White Sox selecting him with the overall #4 pick in the first round of the 2018 MLB June Amateur Draft. The first time I became aware of an injury history with Madrigal was during his final junior season at OSU when he played through a nagging hamstring injury as the Beavers won the 2018 NCAA World Series. Madrigal was still playing for OSU when the White Sox drafted him. His signing had to wait until their championship season was over. Madrigal’s professional debut with the organization was delayed a few weeks as they tended to his injury and allowed it to fully heal.
Madrigal continued to hit at every level of his professional career in the White Sox organization which resulted in his July 31st, 2020 MLB debut during that summer’s abbreviated Covid-19 season. Madrigal suffered a dislocated left shoulder injury on an ill-advised slide in his fifth game as a White Sox. He returned on August 29th to help the team pursue its first playoff appearance since 2008 despite an injury that would require surgery following the season. Madrigal continued to hit down the stretch despite playing with that injury. It had to impair his ability at the plate but seemed to have a greater impact on his defense and base running.
Madrigal’s subsequent October surgery required a 5-6 month recuperation which spilled over into the 2021 White Sox training camp. The organization wisely erred on the side of caution with Madrigal’s reps in spring training but he still managed to crack the opening day lineup. Madrigal continued to hit until he suffered yet another injury, a proximal tear of his right hamstring on June 9th trying to leg out an infield hit. That injury required another surgical process that required a much longer recovery time. Less than two months later, Madrigal was dealt to the Cubs in the infamous Craig Kimbrel summer deadline trade.
Madrigal continued his long injury rehab with the Cubs but had the process interrupted during the owner’s lockout which required no contact with any player on a team’s 40-man roster. Whatever physical therapy Madrigal was going through during that time had to be done on his own and without any assistance from the Cubs training staff. Similar to what occurred with the White Sox the previous spring, Madrigal had to ease into his spring training routine during the final stages of his recovery. Unlike what happened in Glendale the previous year, the 2022 spring training timeline was expedited due to the long lockout. Like 2021 with the White Sox, Madrigal again managed to crack the opening day lineup with the Cubs. Because of the shortened spring camp, his overall health and timing at the plate had to be a concern.
As a rare fan of both Chicago teams, I’ve followed Madrigal’s career since his final season at OSU when it was widely rumored that the White Sox might draft him with their top selection. As a longtime baseball fan since the early 1960’s, I was also rooting for a throwback player like Madrigal who epitomized the typical grunt of yesteryear, someone who prioritized contact hitting, defense and possessed a high baseball IQ. This was a refreshing change from what seems to be the focus of MLB scouting in the modern era where the emphasis is on recruiting and developing prospects with advanced analytics. Metrics such as launch angle and exit velocity have superseded the basic concept of just hitting the baseball with more frequency, something that was far more paramount in most of baseball’s history up until the incorporation of sabermetrics.
The Cubs during the Theo Epstein regime adopted and prioritized advance analytics as much or more than most other front offices. The nerds were gung-ho in implementing a philosophy which has resulted in today’s three outcome game of long balls, walks and strikeouts, all attributes that were hardly the skill set of Madrigal throughout his successful amateur and professional career. I’d be hard pressed to think of another organization that is a worse fit for Madrigal if they continue to insist that all of their hitters incorporate these new
hitting measures.
Come to think of it, I would also question the Cubs philosophy overall considering the regression that occurred with most everyone of their fabled young core of hitters after their mostly stellar debuts which resulted in a lone 2016 championship. When the Cubs finally moved on from their championship core in the past two years most all of them had reached their ceilings early on and became less productive even as they entered their prime years and free agency. This includes young All-Star players like Kris Bryant and Javier Baez along with Kyle Schwarber who earned his first AS nod in 2021 after the Cubs DFA’d him the previous offseason. I believe the Cubs prioritization of advanced analytics along with their constant churn of MLB hitting coaches has done few favors for their hitters during the past decade. Hopefully this philosophy will change, at least with two of my favorite MLB grunts, Madrigal and Nico Hoerner.
Wow, a lot of coffee today, huh?
Sampson isn’t the worst pitcher on the roster. Expect him to be claimed
Nick just needs to muscle up and stay healthy so he can play a full year and learn from it. He is just too injury prone and thinks to much right now because he is smart. Nick is where he needs to be right now in his career so he can take his time and grow his game.