The Cubs reinstated Cody Bellinger from the 10-day injured list this afternoon. Highly-touted first baseman Matt Mervis was optioned to Triple-A Iowa in a corresponding transaction.
Bellinger is in the lineup tonight against Pittsburgh righty Johan Oviedo, hitting sixth and playing first base. It’s his first start there in two years. Bellinger came up as a first baseman but moved primarily to the outfield by 2019, as the Dodgers (and subsequently Chicago) wanted to take advantage of his elite athleticism. Bellinger has been a very good defensive outfielder but he’ll break back in at first base after losing nearly a month to a left knee contusion.
Manager David Ross suggested as much earlier this week. Sprinting is still causing Bellinger some issues, and while the Cubs feel he’s sufficiently healthy to return to the diamond, they’ll try to ease the stress by putting him at a less demanding position. President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer told reporters yesterday the club is hopeful of getting Bellinger back in the outfield at some point but didn’t specify a timeline (relayed by Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune).
Bellinger will try to pick up where he left off before the injury. The former MVP has been enjoying something of a bounceback season in Chicago. He’s hitting .271/.343/.493 over 163 trips to the plate. That’s not peak form but far better than his results from his final two seasons in Los Angeles, largely attributable to him cutting his strikeout rate from around 27% to 19% this year.
His return displaces Mervis, who heads back to the minors for the first time since he was called up on May 5. The Duke product tore up minor league pitching in 2022 and started this season with a .286/.402/.560 showing in Triple-A. He couldn’t carry that success over in his first look at big league arms. Mervis hit .167/.242/.289 over his initial 27 MLB games, striking out in 32 of his 99 trips to the plate.
There’s little sense for the Cubs in relegating him to a bench role, as he’s still a potential key offensive piece for the organization moving forward. With Bellinger at first base and Chicago using a rotation at designated hitter — Trey Mancini, Christopher Morel, Patrick Wisdom, Miles Mastrobuoni and Ian Happ have split the last five starts there — the clearest path for Mervis to get consistent reps was by sending him back to Iowa.
Mastrobuoni will be next in line for demotion if Steele returns on Saturday.
Heh.
How long will it be until certain Cubs fans call for Jed to bring back Frank Schwindel?
Soon
Tauchmann stays
Yay?
At least we can get some offense out of first base, finally
All those Cubs fans anointing Mervis as their 1B the next 10 years looking pretty dumb. Just like they did with Schwindel last time.
Anthony Rizzo had a pretty inauspicious start to his MLB career as well. Not saying that Mervis is the real deal, but he should be given at least one more legitimate chance to show that he can hit at the highest level.
Not the point. There’s literally dozens of AAAA first baseman types around the league at Mervis’ level. A bunch of them will break out, sure. But he’s nothing special. Every teams got a Mervis type. 4 or 5 will work out the other 20 should start learning Chinese.
I’m the one making the point, so I get to say what the point is, not you. Mervis has played all of 85 games at the AAA level, which does not even amount to a full season. He hasn’t been in Des Moines long enough to have that AAAA label slapped on him yet. In the long run, your assessment of him might be correct. But right now, it’s too early to say.
Well said
Lol, your comment undermines your first point. If 4 or 5 Mervis types work out, the team has to play them to find out if they are 1 of the 4 or 5.
So the Cubs made the right call by promoting Mervis?
Thats a bad take D2323. Mervis was drafted ny the Cubs, and is an actual prospect. Schqwindel was like 28 when he got called up after being acquired from the A’s.
Mervis wasn’t drafted by the Cubs. Was signed as a FA so swing and a miss.
I know it’s nitpicking, but Mervis was signed as a free agent by the Cubs in 2020 instead of being drafted by them. Otherwise, I agree with you 100%.
In a spot of good news the Cubs sent Canario to the ACL Cubs to start his rehab on it’s way. Awesome news.
I’ll be more excited if he makes it to Des Moines and puts up good numbers there. But yes, this is a step in the right direction. The more prospects the Cubs have working their way up the minor league ladder, the more likely that at least some of them will pan out and be good to great major league players.
I’ll be happy if he’s completely healthy by next spring training. Just good that he’s back playing games again.
Me too. Dude has a hard time catching a break when it comes to injuries, but the talent is definitely there. If he can put it all together and stay healthy, he could be a real good one.
Obviously, Mervis is a bit of an outlier because the 2020 Draft was an outlier. Think of him as essentially a 6th round pick.
You’re right. Like everything else in 2020, that year’s draft was weird.
Big difference on Mervis who is 25 and Frank who was 30 and in the minor leagues for a decade.
All of those guys making definitive statements about a player after 90 AB’s, look dumb straight away,
Yep. Some people put way too much stock in small sample sizes.
Leave it to them to do the wrong thing. At least they’re consistent.
Despite our differing views on Mike Tauchman, I agree with you on this one. Whether Jed admits it or not, this is another rebuilding year. Might as well give Mervis more time in the Majors to see if he really is the Cubs first baseman of the future.
I think Mervis will be back as soon as Bellinger is able to play CF again. And at the latest, he will be back after the trade deadline.
I hope you’re right.
I don’t care if Tauchman has had his last hit as a Cub already. He came up and gave the Cubs a tremendous lift when they really needed one. He’s not a long term answer to any question, And as long as he’s doing what he’s doing right now he can play for me anytime.
I can’t deny the fact that Tauchman has been one of the Cubs’ hottest hitters lately. It’s just that I’m skeptical he can keep doing what he’s doing for much longer. I hope I’m wrong.
I have a feeling they are gonna ride out Tauchman as long as they can and when he faulters, as long as PCA is still playing well in AA (he’s even heating up a little more lately), I think he’s gonna get the promotion to Chicago for a little tryout once they are done with Tauchman. If he does well enough he’ll stick around, but if not they’ll send him to Iowa. I think Mervis is gonna stay in Iowa likely till near the end of August. Bellinger can keep playing first base for a while and it will be easier on his knee. Then later in the season if PCA needs to be sent down, Belli will take over CF again.
You probably noticed that what I’m saying is assuming no big fire sale. I think the Cubs turn this around and Jed wants this team to compete. They’ve been back and forth on hot and cold and there is enough good things happening to believe this team will keep slowly growing and developing.
If things keep going in a positive direction, here’s what I’d expect:
-Stroman gets an extension right before the trade deadline.
-We bolster the bullpen from our minor leagues starting depth.
-Mervis back just before the deadline so he can be included on a post season roster.
-OF of PCA in CF, Suzuki/Bellinger in RF, Happ/Bellinger in LF
-Morel, Madrigal, and Wisdom sharing 3b lol
– DH rotation mostly involving Morel and the odd man out of the 4 above previously mentioned outfielders.
** I sure am optimistic, aren’t I??
Delusional.
Of course they’re going to ride out Tauchman. Why wouldn’t they?
PCA doesn’t see the Majors this year or next until his clock runs out. Just the way Jed does it..
Mervis will be back soon, and Belli goes back to CF.
Steele back tomorrow. More interested in who goes down. Maybe Asad since he threw 2 today.
If Stroman hasn’t gotten his extension yet he’s not getting it in season. If they’re in it, They just keep him and take stock after the season to see what they’ve got. Then we’ll see how bad he wants to be HERE!
About the only thing I agree with is the bullpen help is coming from within.
Apparently the bullpen guys do too since they’re finally starting to pitch like their jobs depend on it.
Ended up being Wisdom to the IL since they had one extra position player.
With the days off around the trip to London, I would expect that Wesneski gets sent down soon.
“Call up Mervis! Call up Morel!”
Morel had a quick flash in the pan, but Mervis has been atrocious. The Cubs lack elite prospects, and I don’t know how they’ve struggled to find them since they haven’t really contended since 2020.
Morel is hitting above .280 and has an ops above 1.
Morel is no longer a flash in the pan, he is a legitimate utility player who went on an incredible hot streak. No reason to think he can’t be a 0.230 hitter who can hit 15 homers in 300 at bats and maybe grab 8 or 9 steals too. He has a career in the show.
@ Ryan:
‘The Cubs don’t have elite prospects’??? Compared to who -????
And I hope you realize that Morel was 22 years old last year when the Cubs brought him up to Chicago – from AA ball.
The Cubs have elite prospects, everyone is well aware of Pete Crow-Armstrong but we also have Ben Brown, Cade Horton and Alcantara who are all in the top 100. Jordan Wicks also is a guy who is just outside the top 100.
Morel came up this season and was unbelievably hot, struggled to the point where he was almost unplayable but credit where credit is due, Ross stuck with him and it’s paid off lately. If this is who Morel is, Cubs fans are going to be very very happy, tremendous power, speed, high energy and a great teammate.
Morel has actually been heating up again over the last few days. I’m not sure I’d call him a flash in the pan just yet.
Mervis got a taste of big league pitching. Time will tell if he’s a major leaguer or not. This is the right move. Now let’s see if Bellinger can play at a decent level with a lingering knee issue. Have to believe he was playing while injured in 21-22.
Looks like Mervis will be back with the Iowa Cubs just in time for his bobblehead night with them on Saturday. Aaaawwkwaaarrddd!
Bellinger’s declined started in 2020. He fell after shoulder surgery. His swing was already too big prior to the shoulder. Add in what that surgery has done to his bat speed and swing and it was a recipe for disaster.
He had an amazing 2017 and pitchers made adjustments on him. He was ok in 2018 but fell off big time. His #s surged in 2019 as they did across MLB with the juiced ball. Bellinger still looks like he can b a decent MLB player, but he’s likely never going to be elite again.
I guess that depends on what your definition of “elite” is.
Bellinger, before missing time with his knee, was on pace to hit 30 home runs, 40 doubles, steal 30 bags and drive in 80… all from the center field position which he plays extremely well. That’s “elite” to me.
Belli isn’t likely to hit those numbers of course but 25 home run, 35 double, 20 steal campaign isn’t out of the question, keeping in mind that is coming from a center fielder with plus defense. Again, to me, that’s an elite level of production from a center fielder. If Bellinger continues his current pace of production, he’s tabbed for a 6.5 bWAR this season.