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Matt Mervis

Diamondbacks Sign Matt Mervis To Minor League Deal

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Matt Mervis has found a new home after he was released by the Marlins earlier this month. The first baseman signed a minor league contract with the Diamondbacks today, according to his transaction log on MLB.com. He will report to the Triple-A Reno Aces. A lefty power bat, Mervis will slot in as a nice replacement for Seth Brown, who opted out of his minor league deal with the D-backs over the weekend.

The Cubs signed Mervis as an undrafted free agent in 2020. He got off to a slow start in 2021 but started mashing his way through the minors in 2022. He continued swinging a hot bat at Triple-A in 2023, earning his first MLB call-up that May. Unfortunately, he just couldn’t figure out big league pitching, a theme that continued in 2024 and again this year after the Cubs flipped him to the Marlins for Vidal Bruján. All told, in 261 plate appearances from 2023-25, he has hit .165 with a .560 OPS and a 53 wRC+. His 10 home runs are nothing to sniff at, but he has struggled to do damage when he hasn’t hit the ball out of the park, and he’s struck out more than one-third of the time.

There’s no denying how disappointing those MLB numbers are. Yet, perhaps the right organization can teach Mervis how to limit his strikeouts and tap into the prodigious power he has flashed in the minor leagues. In just over 1,800 minor league plate appearances, he’s hit 95 doubles and 95 home runs, good for a .517 slugging percentage and .250 isolated power. The Cubs and Marlins couldn’t help him reach his ceiling, but now the Diamondbacks will give it a shot.

Marlins Release Matt Mervis, Rob Brantly

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The Marlins have released first baseman Matt Mervis and catcher Rob Brantly, per the transaction log at MiLB.com. Both had been in the majors earlier this season but were playing with the Marlins’ Triple-A affiliate in Jacksonville after passing through waivers unclaimed and thus being removed from the 40-man roster.

Mervis, 27, got some Miami fans excited with an early-season home run binge, but it never seemed especially sustainable. The former Cubs farmhand popped six big flies in his first 13 games of the season, hitting .275/.333/.725 along the way. That was a sample of just 45 plate appearances, however, and Mervis fanned a whopping 18 times within that stretch (40%). His power has never been in doubt, but strikeout issues have long plagued Mervis and did so again following that early hot streak. He hit just .125/.213/.213 with a 37% strikeout rate over his next 89 trips to the plate before being designated for assignment and passing through waivers.

Things have gone better for Mervis in Jacksonville, where he’s hitting .250/.310/.614 with 13 homers in 145 plate appearances. However, much of that production is buoyed by a recent hot streak over the past week, and he’s still been set down on strikes in 27% of his plate appearances. This is his fourth season with notable time spent in Triple-A, and he’s had strikeout rates well higher than average in each of the past two (including a 30% strikeout rate in 350 Triple-A plate appearances with the Cubs last year).

Brantly, 36, was briefly summoned to the majors earlier this season when Miami needed an extra catcher, but what was supposed to be a big league stint lasting just a few days wound up turning into months. Brantly incurred a lat strain during that call-up and wound up landing on the 60-day injured list and picking up more than two months of service time.

Brantly has appeared in parts of 10 big league seasons but hasn’t topped 36 MLB plate appearances in a given year since 2013. He’s a .226/.286/.323 hitter in 472 big league plate appearances and has played in parts of 13 Triple-A seasons with more than 2700 plate appearances to his credit.

Marlins Outright Matt Mervis

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Marlins first baseman Matt Mervis passed through waivers unclaimed following his recent DFA and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Jacksonville, reports Craig Mish of SportsGrid and the Miami Herald.

Mervis, 27, generated some buzz among Marlins fans when he homered six times in an eight-game stretch early in the season. Even during that blistering hot streak, however, he fanned in 39% of his plate appearances. The lefty-swinging slugger has always had good power but has never made contact in the majors. Mervis’ lack of hit tool and poor swing decisions caught up to him quickly after that power surge. From April 17 through his DFA in late May, he slashed .125/.213/.213 with a 36% strikeout rate and only one home run.

This is the third season in which Mervis has seen big league time. He’s tallied 261 plate appearances between the Cubs and Marlins but managed only a .165/.238/.322 batting line (53 wRC+) due in large part to a 34.5% strikeout rate. His 66.9% contact rate in that time ranks 470th out of 485 big leaguers (min. 250 plate appearances).

In parts of four Triple-A seasons, Mervis has fared far better. He’s a .269/.371/.511 hitter in 1045 plate appearances and, more encouragingly, has only fanned in 23.3% of his plate appearances there. He’ll spend time in Jacksonville continuing to work on his plate discipline and swing decisions. There’s little doubting Mervis’ power; he bashed 36 home runs in the minors back in 2022 and has connected on 73 round-trippers over his past 1369 plate appearances in the minors. Miami doesn’t have anyone firmly blocking him at first base, so if he can make some gains in Triple-A, another look could be in store for him later this season.

Marlins To Designate Matt Mervis, Ronny Simón For Assignment

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The Marlins are planning to make several roster moves, per Craig Mish of the Miami Herald. It was already reported earlier today that they would be selecting the contract of outfielder Heriberto Hernández. Kevin Barral of Fish on First reports that infielder Jack Winkler will also be selected to the roster. Per Mish, the club is planning to designate infielders Matt Mervis and Ronny Simón for assignment. That would open two 40-man spots for Hernández and Winkler.

Mervis, 27, was acquired from the Cubs in December with the Fish sending Vidal Bruján to Chicago. Mervis got out to a hot start but with some red flags. Through April 23rd, he already had seven home runs but had also struck out in 36.2% of his plate appearances. The feast-or-famine approach has since pushed hard to the famine side. He hasn’t hit a homer since then while still striking out at a 38.5% clip.

Combining this year’s struggles with his time with the Cubs, Mervis now has a .165/.238/.322 line and 34.5% strikeout rate in 261 major league plate appearances. He had tremendous minor league production in 2022 and 2023, slashing .297/.388/.576, but the strikeouts became a big issue last year. He spent most of 2024 in Triple-A and was punched out at a 30% rate at that level.

There’s clearly some pop in the bat but the Marlins ran out of patience. Mervis is only really capable of playing first base, so he needs to hit in order to have any value. Eric Wagaman isn’t doing much better, with a .227/.277/.382 line this year, but it seems he’ll be the regular first baseman now.

The Marlins will now have a week of DFA limbo to figure out what’s next. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so that gives the club five days to see if there’s any trade interest. He does still have an option, so it’s possible some club out there grabs him and sends him to the minors to try to catch lightning in a bottle.

Simón, 25, was was just added to the 40-man roster last month. He had signed a minor league deal with the Marlins in the offseason. He has since received 56 plate appearances and hit .234/.327/.277.

He got an unfortunate moment in the baseball spotlight this week, as recapped by Jason Foster and Christina De Nicola of MLB.com. Simón made several errors and other defensive miscues as the Marlins blew a 6-0 lead to the Padres on Tuesday, eventually losing 8-6. Simón was seen wiping tears from his face amid the ordeal. But later, he received plenty of encouragement from his teammates and even text messages from players on the opposing team such as Manny Machado, Luis Arráez and Fernando Tatis Jr..

But he’ll now have to endure another challenge, as he’s heading to DFA limbo. He was putting up good numbers in the minors earlier this year, which is why he got up to the big leagues in the first place. He had hit .354/.441/.521 in 15 Triple-A games. That was bolstered by an unsustainable .410 batting average on balls in play but he was drawing walks at a 15% clip while only striking out 16.7% of the time.

As recently as July, FanGraphs considered him to be one of the top 20 prospects in the Rays’ system. But he didn’t get called up last year and hit free agency, which led to his deal with the Marlins. He’s a switch-hitter and capable of bouncing around the diamond while stealing 20-35 bases a year. He still has a full slate of options.

Winkler, 26, gets the call to the big leagues for the first time. He’s never really been a top prospect but the Fish nabbed him from the Athletics in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft in November. He has gone on to hit .275/.331/.423 at the Triple-A level this year. That’s propped up by a .351 BABIP but Winkler already has 15 steals. He has played all four infield positions in his career as well as the outfield corners.

Photo courtesy of Mady Mertens, Imagn Images

Cubs, Marlins Swap Matt Mervis, Vidal Brujan

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1:28pm: The deal is now official, per a club announcement by the Marlins.

12:27pm: The Marlins are set to acquire first baseman Matt Mervis from the Cubs, according to a report from Aram Leighton of Just Baseball. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports that infielder Vidal Bruján is headed to Chicago in exchange for Mervis’s services. Brujan had been designated for assignment by the Marlins last week. Maddie Lee of the Sun Times also reports that the Cubs are sending cash to Miami alongside Mervis.

Mervis, 26, signed with the Cubs as an undrafted free agent back in 2020. After struggling in his first taste of professional action in 2021, the slugger tore up the minor leagues in 2022, slashing an excellent .309/.379/.606 with 40 doubles and 36 homers in 137 games across three levels of the minors. That included a long run of success at the Triple-A level, where he hit .297/.383/.593 with 15 doubles and 15 homers in just 57 games. The performance was strong enough to earn Mervis some top-100 prospect buzz during the 2022-23 offseason, and his rapid ascent through the minors provided some optimism for a Cubs franchise that had recently dealt longtime first baseman Anthony Rizzo to the Yankees prior to the trade deadline in 2021.

Unfortunately, Mervis wasn’t able to make the most of his opportunity when he first reached the big leagues in 2023. While he continued to rake at Triple-A (.282/.399/.533 in 100 games), he struggled badly in 99 big league plate appearances with a lackluster .167/.242/.289 slash line that was good for a 48 wRC+ that year. Strong batted ball data and a .317 xwOBA indicated that Mervis may have been slightly unlucky in his first cup of coffee in the majors, but his hefty 32.3% strikeout rate would’ve been a significant red flag even if he had gotten better fortune in terms of batted balls finding holes. That led the Cubs to pivot away from Mervis last winter, trading for Dodgers prospect Michael Busch and installing him as the club’s everyday first baseman.

Busch took off as an above-average hitter right out of the gate with Chicago, posting a 119 wRC+ and 2.3 fWAR in his rookie season. Mervis, by contrast, appeared in just nine games and posted a dreadful -4 wRC+ in that limited playing time. Even his minor league numbers took a step back this year, as he hit just .235/.329/.434 (97 wRC+) in 81 games at Triple-A this past season. All this made Mervis entirely expendable for Chicago, so the club opting to trade him is hardly a shock. With a rebuilding Marlins club, the Triple-A slugger figures to get a larger big league opportunity than he ever received in Chicago. He’ll compete for playing time at first base with incumbent first baseman Jonah Bride, who impressed with a 123 wRC+ in 71 games for the Marlins last year but has yet to complete a wire-to-wire season in the majors ate age 29.

While Mervis is hardly a surefire big league piece, the Marlins are giving up very little to land him. Bruján, 27, was DFA’d by the Marlins last week to clear 40-man roster space after he struggled to produce as a big league regular in 2024. Once a consensus top-100 prospect with the Rays, Bruján failed to hit at all in 99 games with Tampa across three seasons before being dealt to Miami last winter. The Marlins made him a fixture of their bench mix this year, but he hit just .222/.303/.319 (73 wRC+) in 278 trips to the plate. Despite that lackluster performance at the plate, Brujan did provide some modest value as a decent baserunner and an extremely versatile fielder. The switch-hitter mostly split his time between shortstop, second base, and third base in Miami last year but is also capable of playing all three outfield spots and even made brief cameos at first base and on the pitchers mound last year.

That should be enough to earn Brujan the opportunity to compete for a bench job with the Cubs this spring. Chicago has completely overhauled their bench mix this offseason, parting ways with Christian Bethancourt, Mike Tauchman, Nick Madrigal, and Patrick Wisdom last month to make way for alternative options. Carson Kelly joined the club’s roster to form a tandem with Miguel Amaya that will occupy one bench spot, and outfielder Alexander Canario currently seems poised to act as the club’s reserve outfielder behind Ian Happ, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Seiya Suzuki, and Kyle Tucker. That leaves two spots up for grabs, and Brujan currently appears poised to compete with Rule 5 draft selection Gage Workman and internal options Miles Mastrobuoni and Luis Vasquez for those two spots, though another external addition could certainly grab at least one of those bench roles and only the catching tandem appears to be completely locked in for 2025.

Cubs Notes: Bellinger, Suzuki, Steele, Mervis

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The Cubs currently sit at a solid 20-14 record, just one game back of the Brewers for the NL Central lead. That strong start has come in spite of a number of key injuries: staff ace Justin Steele was pulled from his Opening Day start against the Rangers due to a hamstring strain and hasn’t taken the mound in the big leagues since, while the club more recently lost both Cody Bellinger and Seiya Suzuki to rib and oblique injuries, respectively.

Fortunately for Chicago, however, it appears that all three stars are nearing a return to action. Manager Craig Counsell told reporters (including ESPN’s Jesse Rogers) this afternoon that both Suzuki and Bellinger could be back in action some time next week, while MLB.com’s Injury Tracker notes that Counsell indicated to reporters yesterday that Steele is slated to be activated from the IL and take the ball in Monday’s game against the Padres.

All three updates are fantastic news for the Cubs. When Suzuki was placed on the IL on April 15, the Cubs’ offense had produced a solid 108 wRC+ (11th in the majors) but the offense has scuffled in the right fielder’s absence with just a 93 wRC+ (17th in the majors) since then. The club’s struggles at the plate have become even more pronounced since Bellinger was placed on the shelf, as the club has posted a 73 wRC+ (24th in the majors) with an ISO of just .101 since then.

The club will have some interesting roster decisions to make upon the duo’s return, as top prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong has made a solid impression with a 90 wRC+ and elite defense in center field while Bellinger has been on the shelf while veteran fourth outfielder Mike Tauchman has capitalized upon everyday opportunities and is now hitting a scorching .276/.406/.460 with a wRC+ of 154 in 106 trips to the plate this season. The most likely outcome appears to be Crow-Armstrong returning to Triple-A while Tauchman takes over as the club’s regular DH, with Bellinger and Suzuki immediately returning to their usual places in center and right field. That being said, it’s possible the club views Crow-Armstrong’s defense and baserunning as too valuable to lose and instead looks to carry him as a bench player even after the return of Bellinger and Suzuki.

While Chicago’s offense has struggled without its two star outfielders, the rotation has flourished even without the fifth-placer for last year’s NL Cy Young award. The Cubs’ rotation has a collective ERA of 3.35 that ranks sevent-best in the majors this year. Shota Imanaga (0.78 ERA), Jameson Taillon (1.13 ERA) and Javier Assad (1.97 ERA) have been nothing short of dominant as they’ve led the group in Steele’s absence while youngsters such as Hayden Wesneski, Ben Brown, and Jordan Wicks have combined for a solid 3.27 ERA in 11 starts to fill out the back of the rotation. That being said, Steele’s return would allow the club to return either Wesneski or Brown to a beleaguered bullpen that has struggled to a well below average 4.50 ERA and ranks bottom-five in the majors in terms of fWAR.

In less positive Cubs news, the club optioned first baseman Matt Mervis to Triple-A Iowa today, recalling utility infielder Miles Mastrobuoni to take his place on the roster. Mervis got top-100 prospect buzz entering last season thanks to his rapid climb through the minor leagues that saw him reach Triple-A in just his second professional season, but he’s stalled out at the level despite an excellent .297/.393/.556 slash line at the level for his career.

He’s received two cups of coffee in the majors to this point in his career but has failed to hit in either of them, with a .155/.222/.259 career slash line in 127 trips to the plate at the big league level that includes a nine-game stint this season that saw him go just 3-for-26 with a 30.8% strikeout rate. Mervis will now return to the minor leagues to await his next opportunity, though at this point he appears to be blocked by the likes of Michael Busch, Bellinger, Tauchman, and even Crow-Armstrong in terms of left-handed options for the club.

Cubs Place Kyle Hendricks, Drew Smyly On Injured List

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The Cubs announced a series of roster moves, with Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic among those to relay the full slate. Right-hander Kyle Hendricks and left-hander Drew Smyly have each been placed on the 15-day injured list, Hendricks due to a lower back issue and Smyly due to a hip impingement. Right-hander Hayden Wesneski and left-hander Luke Little were recalled in corresponding moves. The club also designated Garrett Cooper for assignment and recalled Matt Mervis, as swap that was reported on earlier.

Hendricks, 34, has been out to an awful start this year. MLBTR’s Anthony Franco recently took a look at the righty’s struggles, before Hendricks made his most recent start. As of right now, Hendricks has logged 21 innings this year over five starts. He has allowed 28 earned runs in that time, leading to an eye-popping earned run average of 12.00.

He’s never been a huge strikeout guy but his 15.1% rate this year is lower than any season since his 2014 debut. It’s possible there’s some bad luck at play, with Hendricks having allowed a .392 batting average on balls in play. He’s also stranding only 50.3% of runners while a third of his fly balls have gone over the fence. His 7.75 FIP and 4.44 SIERA each suggest that he has deserved better, though to very different degrees. That’s due to FIP counting home runs as the pitcher’s fault whereas SIERA gives more weight to batted ball data as opposed to actual results.

Hendricks is likely due for at least some normalization of his extreme results to this point in the season, but there will have to be a waiting period of at least a few weeks before the details of that correction are revealed. Per Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune, Hendricks felt his back bothering him before his start on Sunday and continued to feel it during the outing. The severity of the issue isn’t clear but he’ll have to miss at least a couple of weeks.

The Cubs will now have to figure out who joins the rotation alongside Shota Imanaga, Jordan Wicks, Jameson Taillon and Javier Assad. Tonight marks the start of a stretch where they play 16 games in a row before their next off-day. Smyly has plenty of starting experience and could have been a candidate for such a job, but he’s now on the IL himself.

Wesneski has been working in a swing role for the club in recent years and could perhaps make a few starts. Ben Brown has been pitching multi-inning stints this year and would be another option. Veteran Julio Teheran was signed to a minor league deal last week and gives them a non-roster option. Due to Cooper being designated for assignment, there’s now an opening on the 40-man roster.

Report: Cubs To Designate Garrett Cooper For Assignment

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The Cubs are going to designate first baseman Garrett Cooper for assignment, per Robert Murray of FanSided. It appears he will be the corresponding move for Matt Mervis, as Tommy Birch of the Des Moines Register reports that Mervis is being called up.

The transaction comes as a surprise, since Cooper has generally been playing well. He signed a minor league deal with the Cubs in the offseason and made the Opening Day roster. Since then, he’s hit .270/.341/.432 for a wRC+ of 118.

Despite that strong surface-level production, there are also some concerning elements under the hood. Cooper has struck out at a 31.7% clip so far this year, a few ticks above his career rate, which was already a bit above average. He also has an unsustainable .391 batting average on balls in play, well above the .290 league average.

Beyond Cooper’s performance, it seems that Mervis may have just forced the club into making a move. He had huge amounts of helium in 2022, despite landing with the Cubs as an undrafted free agent. The pandemic led to the 2020 draft being shortened to just five rounds and Mervis wasn’t selected, leading to him signing with the Cubs afterwards.

Despite being somewhat overlooked at that time, he shot onto everyone’s radar in 2022, going from High-A to Double-A and Triple-A, hitting .309/.379/.605 that year. That led to his first taste of the majors last season, though he hit just .167/.242/.289 in his first 99 big league plate appearances. He still hit well in Triple-A last year and is off to a strong start here in 2024. He has five home runs in 82 plate appearances this year and is drawing walks at a 14.6% clip, leading to a line of .288/.402/.606 and a 151 wRC+.

Perhaps the club couldn’t ignore that performance any longer, but handedness may have also played a role. The Cubs as a team are hitting .284/.361/.506 against lefties for a 140 wRC+, second only to the Guardians. But against righties, their collective batting line is .236/.317/.381, which leads to a 97 wRC+ that’s 17th in the league.

Cooper hits from the right side and has been better against lefties in his career, but only modestly. He’s hit .285/.337/.475 against southpaws and .263/.337/.420 otherwise, leading to respective wRC+ counts of 119 and 108. Swapping in Mervis could perhaps give them a bump against right-handed pitchers since he hits from the left side.

The Cubs could have perhaps bumped someone else off the roster in favor of Mervis, such as Patrick Wisdom or Nick Madrigal, but those two offer a bit more defensively. Cooper is only really viable at first base, since his brief time in the outfield corners has yielded poor results. Madrigal and Wisdom can each play third while the latter has some outfield ability as well.

There will now be a week for the Cubs to line up a trade for Cooper or pass him through waivers. It seems fair to expect that there will be interest, based both on his performance so far this year and his track record. He hit .274/.350/.444 for the Marlins from 2019 to 2022, leading to a wRC+ of 117 in that stretch. He struggled to stay healthy in that time and then slumped last year, but he seems to be in good form so far this season.

The Red Sox are going to be without their primary first baseman for a while, as Triston Casas has been diagnosed with a fractured rib. The Astros are getting dismal production from José Abreu thus far. The same goes for the White Sox and Andrew Vaughn, the Twins and Carlos Santana and others. Given all of those different situations, the Cubs will likely be fielding calls about Cooper in the coming days.

Cubs Activate Cody Bellinger, Option Matt Mervis

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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.

Cubs Promote Matt Mervis

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May 5: The Cubs officially selected Mervis’s contract this morning, as noted by MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian. In a corresponding move, infielder Edwin Rios was optioned to Triple-A Iowa. The club already had an open spot on the 40-man roster, so no additional move was required to select Mervis. Mervis will make his MLB debut in this afternoon’s game against the Marlins, playing first base and batting seventh.

Rios, 29, has struggled with the Cubs so far this season, albeit in a tiny sample of just 25 plate appearances, with a slash line of .100/.280/.300 and nine strikeouts. He figures to serve as infield depth for the club at the Triple-A level going forward.

May 4: The Cubs will select the contract of first base prospect Matt Mervis, reports ESPN’s Jeff Passan. He’s not with the team for today’s series finale in D.C. but will join the Cubs when they return to Chicago tomorrow to kick off a homestand with a series against the Marlins.

Mervis, 25, was a 39th-round pick of the Nationals back in 2016 but didn’t sign, instead opting to attend college at Duke. He wasn’t selected in the shortened, five-round iteration of the 2020 draft and wound up signing with the Cubs as an undrafted free agent.

That’s proven to be quite the find for the Cubs, as Mervis has laid waste to minor league pitching and established himself as one of the organization’s top-ranked prospects. Over the past two seasons, Mervis has skyrocketed from High-A to Triple-A (and now the Majors), batting a combined .305/.383/.615 with 42 home runs in 161 games across three minor league levels. That includes a torrid .286/.402/.560 slash and six home runs through his first 112 plate appearances in Triple-A this season.

Baseball America ranks Mervis fourth among Cubs farmhands, while MLB.com has him sixth. Mervis is generally regarded as an all-bat prospect, as he’s a sub-par runner and not a standout defender  at first base. BA’s report on him notes that a shortened swing and refined approach at the plate unlocked a new level of performance for Mervis in 2022, and he’s clearly kept that up in 2023, given that he’s walked (16.1%) nearly as often as he’s punched out (17%). The left-handed-hitting Mervis was awful against left-handed pitchers in his first pro season, but he improved to .268/.339/.529 against southpaws in 174 plate appearances last year and is 6-for-20 with two homers, two doubles, six walks and six strikeouts in 27 plate appearances against same-handed opponents so far in 2023 (.300/.482/.700).

Mervis’ ascension to the big leagues comes at a time when veteran first baseman Eric Hosmer is struggling, having batted just .250/.294/.363 in 85 plate appearances. Cubs first basemen are still hitting .296/.331/.470 on the season, though that’s skewed by the fact that the vast majority of Trey Mancini’s production has happened to come while he’s playing at first base rather than in the outfield or at designated hitter. Mancini is certainly capable of playing either outfield corner and has enough bat to be an option at DH, so there’s room to get both into the lineup.

Keeping Hosmer, who’s also a lefty hitting, first base-only player on the roster alongside Mervis would be trickier, though there’s no direct indication yet that Mervis’ promotion puts Hosmer’s roster spot in jeopardy. Hosmer himself recently acknowledged that may end up being the case in an interview with Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, though he voiced nothing but support for Mervis.

“This is my 13th year in the league,” Hosmer told Rosenthal. “I’m not going to sit here and be bitter about a young kid coming up. That’s not right. … I was in spring with Matty. I was always trying to help, give him my two cents on what’s coming for him in the league, how you can simplify some stuff. It’s not something where I’m watching over my shoulder, or living and dying by his at-bats. When it comes that time, that’s when you can move on and do something else. I know he’s going to be a big part of this organization. I’ve got to help him any way I can.”

While future optional assignments can always impact a player’s timeline to arbitration and free agent, it’s worth at least outlining where those milestones currently stand for Mervis. If he’s in the big leagues for good from this point forth, he’ll fall shy of a full year of service in 2023 (barring a top-two finish in NL Rookie of the Year voting). That means he’d be on pace to reach free agency after the 2029 season, although an early-May call-up will surely afford him enough service time to qualify as a Super Two player. As such, he’d reach arbitration following the 2025 season and be eligible four times rather than the standard three.

If Mervis does manage to secure a top-two place in NL Rookie of the Year voting, he’d gain a full year of service and bump his free agent timeline up to the 2028-29 offseason in the process. He’d still be arb-eligible following the 2025 season, but he’d get there as a player with three years of service and thus only be eligible three times.

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