The Cubs announced that corner outfielder Narciso Crook has been selected onto the major league roster. Center fielder Jason Heyward is headed to the 10-day injured list, retroactive to June 27, due to right knee inflammation. In order to create a 40-man roster spot for Crook, Michael Hermosillo has been transferred from the 10-day to the 60-day IL.
Crook, 27 next month, is in position to make his major league debut. He’s spent almost a decade in pro ball, originally entering the affiliated ranks as a 23rd round pick of the Reds back in 2013. A New Jersey junior college product, Crook played in the Cincinnati farm system until last year. His performance was generally inconsistent, but the 6’3″ outfielder slowly played his way as high as Triple-A. He spent the bulk of last season at that level, hitting .245/.360/.448 in 86 games.
The Reds never selected Crook onto their 40-man roster, and he qualified for minor league free agency at the end of the year. He inked a non-roster pact with the Cubs and has spent the whole season at Triple-A Iowa. Crook is hitting .268/.375/.510 with nine home runs through 184 plate appearances, drawing walks at a strong 11.4% rate along the way. He’s striking out nearly 30% of the time with Iowa, but the power and plate discipline were enough to get him his long-awaited big league look.
Crook adds a right-handed bat to the corner outfield and designated hitter mix for manager David Ross. The trio of Ian Happ, Christopher Morel and Rafael Ortega figure to assume much of the playing time. Heyward had already begun losing reps of late, as he’s having another very rough season. Through 151 plate appearances, he owns a .204/.278/.277 line with a single longball.
Hermosillo has been out since May 8 with a left quad strain. Today’s transfer rules him out for sixty days from that time, pushing his return window back to early July. The 27-year-old outfielder began some baseball activities last week but has yet to start a minor league rehab assignment.
Cubs Players: Put a door and a lock on your Clubhouse Locker.
The Team is bringing up a player known for being a CROOK !!
The only crook is Heyward for stealing all that money from the cubs
a crook and and narc
Crooked narc
He hits righty, not lefty. Hope he can bring some pop to the lineup.
One Crook replacing another… so to speak.
TIL Jason Heyward still plays baseball.
EEE! … “play” might be a bit too liberal. How about “consumes a roster space in” baseball.
When I saw Heyward in the headline I thought they finally DFAd him. Then I saw he was just placed on the IL. Some dreams just take a little longer to come true.
Was at Spring Training last year and he gave my daughter a signed bat
Love seeing him make the show finally!
Maybe they will forget they put Heyward on the injured list and he’ll just stay there collecting dust the rest of the year.
That is an A+ baseball name right there.
Will be DFA in about 12hrs
Hopefully it’s the 730 day DL
I’m a CLE fan, and a few years ago I kept a countdown to the end of Jason Kipnis’ contract on FB. It was literally the same situation – he was in that lineup daily because of his contract, not his performance. At least CHC can afford to eat the last year of Heyward’s deal
Heyward placed the bar so high – I wonder if Crook can achieve better.
Heyward might as well stay on DL he bats better there
If Crook can hit weak ground balls to 2nd base with authority, he got a 8 year 180. Million dollar deal coming his way
When it comes to legalized bank robbery, Heyward is the best.
Now the Cubs have a crook on their roster.
Narciso Crook sounds like history’s judgment on that guy at Mar-a-Lago.
With a name like that, I was hoping to see more stolen bases in his stat line.
Please address him as World Series champion and 108 year curse killer Jason Heyward
Thank goodness the cubs had him and his .150 World Series average with 0 runs and 0 RBI’s. Complete nonfactor.
And cubs had Chapman while you have Torres and 0 World Series . Heyward made spectacular catches saving runs during playoff run. Yes he should be on bench now but has a ring . Trout ?
Heyward does not deserve a roster spot in 2022 because of what he did 6 years ago. He’s one of the worst hitters in MLB and his defense isn’t even that good anymore. Let the young guys play. See what you’ve got. All you’ve got in Heyward is a paperweight.
Name your top 5 worst free agent contracts of all time go!
For me:
Chris Davis
Jason Heyward
Jacoby Ellsbury
David Price
Josh Hamilton
Milton Bradley
Edwin Jackson
Mike Hampton
Carl Crawford
Albert Pujols
and a shout out to Bobby Bonilla
Josh Hamilton
Pablo Sandoval
Jacoby Ellsbury
Carl Pavano
Albert Belle
Honorable mention to Strasberg who will probably be number 1 if he doesn’t stay healthy.
Chris Davis was an extension…
Crawford
Hamilton
Ellsbury
King fu panda
Hampton
It’s amazing Heyward probably isn’t even a top 10 all time free agent disaster.
FYI, Rowan is not a junior college.
I think he meant Heyward was put on the not good at baseball list.