After hitting a pinch hit HR, all attention seems to be on reserve outfielder Joe Mather. Mather, 30, is a former Brave and Cardinal farm hand with limited major league experience. He does not fit the Theo benchmark of being under 28. But it is reported that he can play LF, RF, 3B and 1B. Jim Hendry also fancied players stuffed at multiple positions (usually second basemen playing out of position).
Mather's emergence puts the heat on Tony Campana and Dave Sappelt for the last OF spot. Both Campana and Sappelt have not been tearing up spring. It is reported that all three have minor league options so it is not an issue of losing control over the player via release. (The Cubs outrighted reliever Casey Weathers to Iowa to open up a spot on the 40 man roster. Some speculation is that it is for re-activation of Sveum favorite Blake DeWitt, but I don't know if the Cuban signee, Concepcion's deal requires him to be on the 40 man roster.)
Back to Mather. IN 2011 for the Braves, he had 36 game appearances, 83 AB, 1 HR, 9 RBI, .213 BA, .272 OBP. Not stellar production. In parts of three professional seasons playing RF, LF, CF, 1B and 3B (106 games), his fielding percentage is .983, slightly above average. In 73 games in AAA last season, he hit 7 HR, 35 RBI, .306 BA, .359 OBP and 5 steals. It appears that he is prototypical 25th man, bench player.
If Mather has the inside track to be the 5th OF and pinch hitter off the bench, then Campana and Sappelt will struggle to find time even in Iowa (with Jackson and Szczur there).
So the Cubs bench seems to be shaping up like this (assuming the Cubs take 12 pitchers):
OF reserves: Reed Johnson, Mather
IN reserves: DeWitt, Baker,
Backup C: Castillo or Clevenger
