Craig Counsell Discusses The Cubs’ Struggling Catchers
The Cubs have received dismal production from the catcher position this year, a topic that manager Craig Counsell openly discussed recently, as relayed by Sahadev Sharma in an article at The Athletic.
“Frankly, our catchers’ offense has been a struggle,” manager Counsell said. “We’re going to need to have better offense from our catchers to have a good offense. To have spots in your lineup that aren’t producing stops rallies.”
The Cubs have given all of their playing time behind the plate this year to Yan Gomes and Miguel Amaya, but both are hitting poorly, as Counsell admitted. The 36-year-old Gomes has plenty of good seasons on his résumé, hitting double-digit home runs eight times, but he has just two long balls this year. He has a 23.5% strikeout rate in his career, which is roughly average, but is currently being punched out at a 40% clip and has a batting line of .148/.176/.235. The 25-year-old Amaya isn’t quite as bad but his .194/.255/.274 line isn’t pretty either.
The problems don’t stop with the offense, as laid out by Sharma. Gomes has -6 Defensive Runs Saved this year and negative framing marks from FanGraphs, Statcast and Baseball Prospectus, while Amaya is hovering close to league average in those categories. The running games has also been a problem, with the Statcast catcher throwing leaderboard featuring ranking Amaya as one of the worst among qualified backstops while Gomes is in the middle of the pack. As Sharma highlights, the Cubs have caught just 13% of attempted base stealers, which has them tied for last in that department.
As noted by both Counsell and Sharma, pitchers play a role in that part of the game, but catchers obviously do as well. “Our catchers, you have to help to do that,” Counsell said. “You have to have help to be good at that. I think we’re going to continue to try to do a better job helping those guys be successful there.”
With struggles on both sides of the ball, the Cubs might have to think about making some kind of change. Clubs are sometimes reluctant to make midseason alterations to the roster at the catcher position due to the challenge of a new backstop having to learn the pitching staff in short order, but Sharma reports that Counsell doesn’t have those hesitations.
Actually pulling off such a switch would be somewhat complicated, as neither Amaya nor Gomes can be optioned to the minors. Amaya has exhausted his option years and has long been seen as the proverbial catcher of the future for the Cubs, meaning they likely don’t want to lose him based on a few rough months, especially when he’s likely to grow in time. “Big league at-bats for Miguel are a great teacher right now,” Counsell said. “At his experience level, he will improve.”
Gomes is far older and an impending free agent, but the Cubs are committed to him financially. They signed him to a two-year, $13MM deal going into 2022, with a $6MM club option for 2024. Gomes had a solid season in 2023, prompting the Cubs to trigger that option. Given his struggles and that salary, he would have no trade appeal, so the Cubs would likely have to eat that money and release Gomes if they wanted to pivot. Carrying three backstops would technically be possible but would involve bumping someone like David Bote or Patrick Wisdom from the roster and therefore cutting into the club’s depth at other positions.
Despite the challenges, it seems like Counsell is open to some kind of change. The Cubs could possibly find help from within, as Alí Sánchez is in the organization on a minor league deal and playing well. He has stepped to the plate 121 times for Triple-A Iowa this year and drawn a walk in 14% of those while hitting three home runs, leading to a line of .262/.372/.437 and a 113 wRC+. He has a sliver of major league experience and hit well in Triple-A last year with Arizona, slashing .311/.375/.492.
The Cubs could also look outside the organization to the trade market, but the options there may be limited. The Blue Jays are struggling a bit this year and have impending free agent Danny Jansen. He is very talented, something that MLBTR’s Anthony Franco recently highlighted, but the Jays are still in the playoff race. Jeff Passan of ESPN reported this week that the club isn’t planning to commit to either buying or selling until the All-Star break, which is still over a month away. Players like Carson Kelly of the Tigers or Victor Caratini of the Astros could make sense, but like the Jays, those clubs probably want to wait a few more weeks before deciding to sell useful players. Elias Díaz makes sense as a trade candidate on paper but the Rockies are notoriously reluctant to part with players even when logic supports such a move. Martín Maldonado of the White Sox is probably attainable but is playing worse than either Amaya or Gomes this year, with a batting line of .076/.124/.120.
Perhaps the Cubs will wait and see if Gomes or Amaya can put together a good stretch in the next month or so and then move to the trade market if that doesn’t happen. There’s some sense in such a path but also risk. The club is in the thick of an incredibly tight National League playoff race. Atlanta has a pretty firm grip on the top Wild Card spot but there are nine clubs within three games of each other in the battle for the final two. Despite a 31-32 record, the Cubs are atop that pile at the moment but it’s a situation where every game matters. This is something the Cubs know well as they finished 2023 just one game behind the final postseason spot.
Brewers Select James Meeker
The Brewers announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander James Meeker. Left-hander Aaron Ashby was optioned to Triple-A Nashville in a corresponding move. The club already had a vacancy on its 40-man roster, which is now full.
Meeker makes it to the big leagues for the first time at an unusually old age, as he turned 29 in March. That’s a reflection of his unusual path to get to the majors. He pitched for the University of Delaware through 2018 but didn’t get drafted and headed to the Indy Ball circuit. He bounced around for a few years but impressed the Brewers enough to get a minor league deal late in 2021.
In 2022, he tossed 64 1/3 innings between High-A and Double-A, allowing just 2.38 earned runs per nine frames. He only struck out 21.3% of batters faced but limited walks to a 6.3% clip and got grounders on roughly half the balls that opponents put in play.
Last year, the results were fairly similar. He tossed 93 innings over 36 appearances in Double-A and Triple-A, including eight starts in an ill-fated move to the rotation. Despite some poor results in those starts, he still finished the year with a 3.39 ERA, 20.6% strikeout rate, 3.8% walk rate and lots of grounders again.
Here in 2024, he has again split his time between Double-A and Triple-A. He has 27 innings on the year between those two levels with a 2.67 ERA. His walk rate has jumped to 10.9% but he’s also getting more punchouts, up to 27.3%, while still keeping the ball on the ground. He’ll give the club an extra arm in the bullpen and will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game.
The Brewers have placed Joe Ross and Robert Gasser on the injured list in the past few weeks, thinning their rotation depth. Ashby was recalled a couple of days ago to make a spot start but has quickly been sent down to get a fresh arm onto the big league staff.
Tobias Myers is taking the ball tonight with Freddy Peralta, Bryse Wilson and Colin Rea likely to follow in the days to come. They would need a fifth starter by Tuesday, unless they plan to do some kind of bullpen game. Janson Junk was just optioned recently and there’s a 15-day minimum before he’s allowed to return, unless directly replacing a player going on the IL. Ashby is now in a similar position. Jakob Junis is on a rehab assignment but only tossed two innings in his first outing and may be built up further before being reinstated. Prospect Jacob Misiorowski is pitching well in the minors but hasn’t yet reached Triple-A and isn’t on the 40-man roster.
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Rays Designate Harold Ramirez For Assignment
The Rays have designated corner outfielder/designated hitter Harold Ramirez for assignment, per a team announcement. His spot on the 40-man roster will go to infielder Taylor Walls, who is being reinstated from the 60-day injured list now that his rehab from last October’s hip surgery has been completed.
Ramirez, 29, was a semi-regular with the Rays in 2022-23, particularly versus left-handed pitching. He appeared in 242 games and in 869 plate appearances logged a strong .306/.348/.432 batting line. Ramirez has more gap power than home run power (43 doubles, two triples, 18 homers in that time) but was a strong bat in a relatively limited role. He’s played both outfield corners and first base in the big leagues but is considered a defensive liability at all three spots. The Rays have used him primarily as a designated hitter.
This season has seen a precipitous drop in Ramirez’s production, however. His .268 average remains a solid mark, but Ramirez’s free-swinging approach has produced fewer walks than ever (1.8%), leading to a paltry .284 OBP. He’s also seen his limited power completely erode. In 169 plate appearances, he has just one homer and three doubles. Overall, Ramirez’s .268/.284/.305 slash is about 27% worse than league-average production, by measure of wRC+.
Ramirez is still hitting .310 against lefties this year in a small sample of 58 plate appearances. However, he hasn’t taken even one walk against a southpaw and is slugging only .379 against them. He’s essentially been a good short-side platoon singles hitter who lacks defensive value and, as importantly, lacks minor league options.
With Amed Rosario hitting quite well in an infield/outfield role and Jonny DeLuca offering far more value on the defensive end of things, the Rays opted to jettison Ramirez in order to get Walls and his versatile, slick-fielding glove back on the roster. Rosario, DeLuca, Walls and catcher Alex Jackson will comprise the Rays’ bench group for the time being. Ramirez has largely been squeezed out by DeLuca and 27-year-old Richie Palacios, whom the Rays acquired via trade this winter (DeLuca from the Dodgers in the Tyler Glasnow deal, Palacios from the Cardinals for Andrew Kittredge). Palacios has gone on to bat .262/.355/.369, and his versatility has allowed the Rays to begin to rotate Yandy Diaz, Jonathan Aranda, Isaac Paredes and Josh Lowe through the DH spot.
Ramirez himself was an oft-discussed trade candidate over the winter. Between his dwindling club control (through 2025), rising price in arbitration ($3.8MM this season) and extreme defensive limitations, he stood as a trade or even non-tender candidate. The Rays typically prefer to find this type of player/skill set early in his pre-arbitration seasons and then flip them elsewhere as that price tag climbs. But despite Ramirez’s quality results at the plate in 2022-23,the market clearly offered tepid enthusiasm for him. Tampa Bay reportedly shopped him prior to the non-tender deadline and again in spring training but never found a deal.
Because of his $3.8MM salary, Ramirez is unlikely to be claimed on waivers if he gets there. It’s unlikely that any potential trade partner would take on the remainder of his contract, but the Rays could perhaps facilitate a swap if they’re willing to pay down some of the money still owed to Ramirez. If Ramirez does reach waivers and ultimately clear, he surpassed five years of major league service time last month, giving him the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency while still retaining his entire salary.
Ramirez would surely go that route, and at that point there’d presumably be many teams interested in bringing him aboard, perhaps even on a big league deal that would land him right on a major league roster. He is, after all, a lifetime .322/.357/.455 hitter against left-handed pitching and can be controlled into next season if he can get back on track at the plate. Ramirez would only be owed the prorated league minimum for any time spent on his new team’s MLB roster. That number would be subtracted from what the Rays owe him, but Tampa Bay is going to be on the hook for the bulk of the $2.35MM he still has left on his deal.
The Rays will trade Ramirez or place him on waivers within the next five days. If he ends up on waivers, that process would take an additional 48 hours.
Tigers Trade Buddy Kennedy To Phillies
10:33am: The Tigers have now announced that Kennedy has been traded to the Phillies in exchange for cash.
Kennedy becomes the latest depth addition for a Phillies club that has acquired non-roster players such as Ruben Cardenas and Jonah Dipoto in a pair of cash swaps. Philadelphia also recently plucked right-hander Freddy Tarnok off waivers from the A’s.
The Phillies already had an open spot on the 40-man roster after minor league infielder Jose Rodriguez was suspended for one year amid MLB’s recent wave of bans for betting on baseball. Kennedy will both take Rodriguez’s roster spot and replenish the infield depth lost with Rodriguez’s placement on the restricted list.
10:25am: Evan Woodbery of MLive reports on X that the MLB.com transaction log was not accurate. MLB.com has subsequently removed Kennedy’s outright from its transaction log.
9:52am: The Tigers have sent infielder Buddy Kennedy outright to Triple-A Toledo, according to his transactions log at MLB.com. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment earlier this week. He has the right to elect free agency but it’s not yet clear if he’s chosen to do so.
Kennedy, 25, has spent most of this season on optional assignment, with the Tigers giving him 13 plate appearances in six major league games. Combined with his time in Arizona in the previous two seasons, he now has a career batting line of .205/.294/.316 in 136 trips to the plate in the big leagues.
His larger body of work in the minors has been more impressive, though with a bit of a swoon this year. He slashed .287/.395/.455 on the farm over the 2021 to 2023 seasons, with wRC+ giving him a 119 for that three-year stretch. He drew walks in 14.3% of his plate appearances during that span while striking out just 20.2% of the time. He did that while playing a lot of second and third base, with some stints at first base and left field as well.
That minor league performance made him plenty popular in the past year. He was designated for assignment by the Diamondbacks in September and bounced to the Athletics, Cardinals and Tigers on waiver claims.
But his performance has dipped a bit this year, as he has slashed .234/.331/.383 in Triple-A, production that leads to an 87 wRC+. His 11.7% walk rate is still strong but his strikeout rate is up a bit to 23.9%. Though he has been popular on the waiver wire, that tepid performance seems to have pushed him through unclaimed this time.
He was also outrighted by the Diamondbacks at the end of the 2022 season, which gives him the right to reject this assignment and head to the open market instead. If he eventually gets a roster spot back, with the Tigers or someone else, he can be optioned for the remainder of this season but will be out of options next year.
The Opener: London Series, Soto, Yankees, Dodgers
As the 2024 regular season continues, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world headed into the weekend:
1. London Series 2024:
Last year, MLB made its long-awaited return to London after first visiting with a set between the Red Sox and Yankees in 2019. The Yankees swept the two-game set that year, while last season the Cubs and Cardinals split their own two-game set. This weekend, a third pair of teams is set to face off in London Stadium: the Phillies and the Mets. Philadelphia has enjoyed an incredibly hot start to the 2024 campaign thanks to fantastic starting pitching performances, not only from aces Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola but also thanks to breakout performances from Ranger Suarez and Cristopher Sanchez. That elite pitching performance in conjunction with particularly strong offensive production from Bryce Harper, Alec Bohm and (prior to his injury) Trea Turner has led Philadelphia to a 44-19 record and a commanding lead in the NL East.
Things haven’t gone quite as well for the Mets this year. Luis Severino and Sean Manaea have posted quality results in the rotation while Pete Alonso, J.D. Martinez and young Mark Vientos have delivered strong performances to the anchor the lineup. However, significant struggles of key players like Edwin Diaz, Jeff McNeil and Jose Quintana have left fans in Queens with little to celebrate as their club has already fallen 16.5 games back of the NL East lead with a 27-35 record. The two-game set is set to begin at 6:10pm London time (1:10pm ET) on Saturday as Suarez (1.70 ERA) takes on Manaea (3.63 ERA), followed by a game at 3:10pm London time (10:10am ET) on Sunday where Quintana (5.17 ERA) takes on Taijuan Walker (5.73 ERA).
2. Soto to undergo testing:
Yaankees superstar Juan Soto departed yesterday’s win over the Twins following a rain delay due to what the team termed left forearm discomfort. As relayed by SNY on X (Video Links), manager Aaron Boone told reporters after the game that Soto’s been dealing with soreness in his forearm for the past week or so and that the club decided to “play it safe” rather than ramp him back up after the rain delay. While that description sounds fairly innocuous, Boone also added a more ominous note that Soto would undergo imaging on the arm today.
Acquired from the Padres in a blockbuster deal over the offseason, Soto has been everything the Yankees could’ve hoped for since the season began. In 64 games, the 25-year-old phenom has slashed .318/.424/.603 (190 wRC+) while leading the majors in on-base percentage, leading the AL in batting average, and clubbing 17 home runs. He’s even delivered solid defense in right field, with +1 Outs Above Average and +1 Defensive Runs Saved. Losing Soto for any amount of time would ramp up pressure in a division where the Yankees hold a 4.5-game lead over the second-place Orioles. If Soto is out, the Yankees could give Trent Grisham additional time in center and move Aaron Judge to right field.
3. Series Preview: Dodgers @ Yankees
The 45-19 Yankees have MLB’s best winning percentage, but the Dodgers are certainly fearsome in their own right with a 39-25 record and a commanding eight-game lead in the NL West. New York’s success has been largely predicated on the elite performance of their starting rotation, which leads the AL with a 2.82 ERA, along with big performances from Soto, Judge and shortstop Anthony Volpe.
The Dodgers, meanwhile, have enjoyed elite offensive production from the top four spots in their lineup, occupied by Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, and Will Smith. Their rotation has been merely good rather than elite, ranking eighth in the majors with a collective 3.50 ERA despite strong individual performances from offseason acquisitions Tyler Glasnow and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The set between the two titans is set to begin at 7:05pm local time this evening when Yamamoto (3.32 ERA) takes the mound opposite Cody Poteet, who has allowed three runs in 11 innings (2.45 ERA) in two spot starts this year. On Saturday, young righty Gavin Stone (2.90 ERA) will take on lefty Nestor Cortes (3.46 ERA). The series wraps up Sunday with Glasnow (2.93 ERA) on the mound opposite breakout righty Luis Gil (1.82 ERA).
Will The Mets Trade Pete Alonso?
The Mets head to London for a World Tour series against the Phillies this weekend. Even after sweeping the Nationals, New York owns a 27-35 record that has them above just the Rockies and Marlins in the National League. They’re remarkably only 3.5 games out of the Wild Card race, a testament to the NL’s mediocrity beyond its top four teams. There are six clubs between the Mets and the current final playoff team, the Padres.
If the Mets don’t make significant improvements in the next six-plus weeks, they’ll head into deadline season as a seller. Impending free agents are always the most apparent trade candidates. The Mets have no shortage of rentals they can market. Sean Manaea (who has a $13.5MM player option for next season), J.D. Martinez, Luis Severino, Harrison Bader, Adam Ottavino, Jose Quintana and Jake Diekman could all move. Yet there’s no more interesting Mets’ trade candidate than their first baseman.
Pete Alonso is a few months from his first trip to the open market. He reportedly declined a $158MM extension offer last summer. President of baseball operations David Stearns made clear throughout the offseason that while the Mets had no interest in trading Alonso over the winter, they didn’t anticipate reopening extension negotiations before he hit free agency.
That should spur plenty of trade speculation as the deadline approaches. That’s evidently already happening in front offices outside of Queens. Jeff Passan of ESPN wrote this week that multiple rival general managers expect the Mets to trade Alonso before the deadline. That seems more like informed speculation than a suggestion that his name has come up in trade talks to this point.
Will talks gain legitimate traction in the coming weeks? There’s a straightforward argument for the Mets to move Alonso. They evidently don’t plan on keeping him from testing the free agent market. Alonso will begin his next contract in his age-30 season. When Stearns was running baseball operations in Milwaukee, the Brewers preferred not to invest heavily in defensively-limited sluggers. He obviously has far more resources at his disposal now, but it’s fair to wonder whether Alonso is the type of player around whom Stearns wants to build.
That’s particularly true with a slight downturn in Alonso’s batted ball metrics. He’s still capable of hitting the ball as hard anyone, but he has done so less frequently over the past couple seasons. The Polar Bear’s rate of hard contact (a batted ball with an exit velocity north of 95 MPH) peaked at 47.3% back in 2021. It dropped by a few points in each of the next two seasons. This year’s 40.1% hard contact rate is a match for last season’s. It places Alonso 129th out of 263 qualified hitters.
The dip in hard contact rate hasn’t made Alonso a bad hitter, of course. He’s hitting .238/.315/.477 with 14 homers across 267 plate appearances. After accounting for the pitcher-friendly nature of Citi Field and a depressed league run environment, that’s 27 percentage points better than average. Alonso remains a middle-of-the-order bat, but it’s a slightly concerning trend for a player whose game is built on power.
If the front office has concerns about Alonso’s long-term projection, a trade would be the most sensible decision. The Mets would get very little in return if they let him walk in free agency. They’d make him a qualifying offer, but they’d only receive a pick after the fourth round if he signs elsewhere. As a luxury tax payor, they’re entitled to the lowest compensation for losing a qualified free agent. The trade offers they receive this summer would certainly be better than that, even if Alonso’s limited control window and $20.5MM arbitration salary make it unlikely they’d get any top-tier prospects in return.
For the Mets to keep Alonso, they’d need to believe there’s a realistic path to the postseason in 2024 and/or feel good about their chances of retaining him in free agency. Making the playoffs this year isn’t impossible, but they’ve put themselves in a hole with their poor start. Holding Alonso would probably be more about the latter scenario — a sign they’re confident that he’ll stay in New York after seeing what other teams will offer.
Owner Steve Cohen is capable of outbidding anyone. He’s presumably keen on retaining Alonso, who has proven himself in New York and has been a fan favorite since his electrifying rookie season. Yet the Mets have been relatively restrained in the last two offseasons after their frenzied effort to spend their way into contention in 2021 didn’t quite pan out. (The Mets did win 101 games in 2022, but they followed up a first-round playoff exit with last year’s 75 wins.) The Mets seem to be gearing up for a bidding war with the Yankees and others on Juan Soto, which could take some of the priority away from Alonso.
It’s at least worth considering the possibility that the Mets trade Alonso before trying to bring him back next winter. That’s not unheard of but doesn’t happen often, particularly with players at the top of the market. A deadline trade typically reflects an understanding that the team and player aren’t going to line up on contract figures.
How will the Mets handle the situation? Is Alonso going to be on the move this summer?
What Will Happen With Pete Alonso?
-
Deadline trade 53% (5,037)
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Mets make the QO, let Alonso walk 16% (1,522)
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Mets extend or re-sign him 16% (1,513)
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Mets trade Alonso, then re-sign him in the offseason 14% (1,366)
Total votes: 9,438
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Pirates Outright Grant Koch
The Pirates have sent catcher Grant Koch outright to Triple-A Indianapolis, per the transaction log at MLB.com. Pittsburgh designated him for assignment on Tuesday when they recalled Henry Davis to pair with Yasmani Grandal behind the plate.
Koch, 27, played in his first three MLB games. A fifth-round pick out of Arkansas in 2018, Koch has played parts of six seasons in the minors. He has never been much of an offensive threat, running a .203/.284/.322 slash line in nearly 1200 plate appearances on the farm. Koch was hitting .167/.211/.259 with 25 strikeouts in 59 trips to the plate for Indianapolis when the Bucs selected his contract on May 28.
That first promotion came in tandem with a trip to the injured list for Joey Bart. The Pirates evidently didn’t want to promote Davis at that time. Koch got a few days in the big leagues and his first eight MLB plate appearances — he went 0-7 with six strikeouts and a walk — before the Pirates decided to turn to Davis. Pittsburgh also welcomed back Jason Delay from the 60-day injured list this week, though he was immediately optioned to Triple-A.
It’s the first career outright for Koch, who’ll stick in the organization. He’ll back up Delay in Indianapolis while returning to his previous role as a non-roster depth catcher. Koch would qualify for minor league free agency at the start of the winter if the Pirates don’t reselect him to their 40-man roster this season.
Joe Musgrove Diagnosed With Bone Spur In Elbow
Joe Musgrove landed on the 15-day injured list over the weekend, his second such stint of the 2024 season. The Padres initially called the issue elbow inflammation. They provided more clarity this evening, announcing that an MRI revealed a bone spur (link via AJ Cassavell of MLB.com).
While there’s relief in Musgrove avoiding any ligament damage, the bone spur is going to keep him out well beyond the minimal two weeks. Cassavell writes that the former All-Star will be shut down entirely for two weeks. He could begin playing catch at that point, but that’ll likely require a multi-week build before he’s ready for a minor league rehab assignment. Musgrove conceded that he could require arthroscopic surgery if the injury doesn’t heal with rest, but that’s not currently under consideration. He recently received a platelet-rich plasma injection.
With a little more than five weeks before the All-Star Break, it seems likely Musgrove will be out into the second half of the season. His rehab process will determine whether he’s back at Petco Park before the trade deadline. The Padres are likely to look for starting pitching regardless — they’ve already been tied to White Sox breakout lefty Garrett Crochet — but Musgrove’s injury only adds to the uncertainty.
Dylan Cease, Michael King and Matt Waldron are the clear top three in the rotation at the moment. Yu Darvish landed on the 15-day IL alongside Musgrove, though it doesn’t seem that he’ll miss much time rehabbing a groin strain. San Diego recalled righty Randy Vásquez and promoted rookie Adam Mazur to step into the starting five. Vásquez carried a 5.74 ERA into tonight’s start against the Diamondbacks. Mazur made his MLB debut on Tuesday. Jackson Wolf, owner of a 5.83 ERA over 11 Triple-A appearances, is the only other starter on the 40-man roster.
San Diego’s rotation has turned in average results through the season’s first couple months. They’re 14th with an even 4.00 earned run average despite ranking fifth in MLB with a 24% strikeout rate. Darvish, Cease, Waldron and King have each allowed between three and four earned runs per nine with solid swing-and-miss numbers. Musgrove has had a disappointing season as he tried to navigate the elbow soreness. He has tossed fewer than five innings per start with a 5.66 ERA and a 20.6% strikeout rate that would easily be the worst of his Padres tenure.
Nick Madrigal Sustains Hand Fracture
Cubs infielder Nick Madrigal suffered a fracture in his left hand while playing for Triple-A Iowa, reports Tommy Birch (X link). The former #4 overall pick was hit by a Trey Wingenter pitch last night.
Madrigal just got to Iowa over the weekend. The Cubs optioned the struggling infielder when they called up David Bote on Sunday. Yesterday’s game was his first since the optional assignment. It’s not clear how long he’ll be out of action, but that obviously takes him out of consideration to be called back up in the short term. It’s the latest setback in a difficult season for Chicago’s Opening Day third baseman.
In 94 plate appearances, Madrigal collected just three extra-base hits (all doubles). He had a .221/.280/.256 batting line that allowed Christopher Morel to jump him on the third base depth chart. Morel has had an inconsistent season himself. He entered tonight’s game with a .203/.313/.387 slash over 252 plate appearances. Morel has hit for power — he connected on his 12th homer of the season this evening — but he continues to struggle on the defensive side. The Cubs have given him a personal-high 376 innings at third base. Both Defensive Runs Saved and Statcast have graded him eight runs below average with the glove.
Third base was an area the front office could look to upgrade at the deadline regardless of Madrigal’s health status. The injury is nevertheless a hit to Chicago’s infield depth and another impediment for the 27-year-old as he tries to establish himself as an everyday player. Madrigal has yet to show that his contact-oriented approach provides enough of a ceiling to be a regular. That’s particularly true on a team that already has Nico Hoerner at second base, which forced the Oregon State product to the left side of the infield.
Madrigal has appeared in 202 games since the Cubs acquired him from the White Sox in the 2021 Craig Kimbrel deal. He carries a .251/.304/.312 line in 616 plate appearances. He’s playing this season on a $1.81MM arbitration salary. The Cubs control Madrigal for another two years, but he could be trending towards a non-tender next offseason.