The Cubs are in agreement with outfielder Forrest Wall on a minor league contract, reports Tommy Birch of The Des Moines Register. He opted out of a non-roster deal with the Padres last week.
Wall had spent the entire season in Triple-A with San Diego. He hit .298/.384/.429 while going 21-22 in stolen base attempts. Wall only hit four home runs but reached base at a strong clip behind a high batting average and a solid 10.4% walk rate. That wasn’t enough to get an MLB look from the Padres. Wall did get brief big league stints with the Braves and Marlins last year, combining for 16 games. He had eight hits (all singles) with a trio of walks and eight strikeouts in 35 plate appearances.
A former supplemental first-round pick, Wall has played parts of six Triple-A seasons. He owns a .273/.360/.391 slash in nearly 1900 trips to the plate. Wall is a plus runner who has played all three outfield positions, but his big league experience has mostly come in left field. He’s a patient hitter but doesn’t have a ton of power and only makes contact at a league average rate.
The Cubs have a crowded outfield picture. Ian Happ, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Kyle Tucker have the spots secure. Seiya Suzuki is at designated hitter but would play the corner outfield in the event of an injury. Kevin Alcantara and top prospect Owen Caissie are on the 40-man roster and on optional assignment. Wall’s best path to a big league job is probably as a September call-up who could serve as a pinch-runner. He has more than 300 steals in nearly 1000 career minor league games.
Redundant, Cubs already have a forest wall for their outfield
Career .311 hitter up for grabs!
People still write about the September call-ups as though teams can call up several players. They seem to forget that the limit is only 28–one more player and one more pitcher.
The idea that the Cubs have any chance at all of finishing first in the division is an insult to our intelligence. They might be 10 or 11 games behind the Brewers BEFORE the 5-game series. They might be 15 behind at the end of the series. It really is time for us to stop talking nonsense. Sciambi and JD are paid to do so; what is your excuse?
@Alan: I doubt anything would be an insult, to your intelligence Alan.
Thanks, Dog. I’m pretty smart, I’ve been around for a while and I have contexts. What I have noticed here is that a lot of people don’t have contexts, it’s all new to them. But you’re too kind.
When my dog farts, it’s more eloquent than you.
Cubs are fine as far as a WC spot. In the overly expanded playoffs, that’s all you need even though Milw/LAD/Philly would be clear favorites against them.
I’m convinced the entire Cubs team all ran into the forrest and keep hitting walls trying to find their way out. Atrocious to watch these days.
Yeah great idea. Because there is absolutely nobody in the entire Cubs Minor League system who can run fast. Atta Boy Gollum.
Run Forrest Run
Rum Forrest rum
IL stint for Tucker?
Taking advantage of scoring opportunities is, I think, partly a matter of confidence–coming up to the plate *knowing* you’re going to drive that run in. The Cubs seem to lack confidence right now. You can see the fear of failure in the faces of PCA, Happ, Swanson, others. The pendulum might swing back, but it is also possible that the swings have just gotten slower as the season has gotten older. If that is the case, they might have quite a steep drop in front of them.
AAA depth at best.