The Cubs offense has become dormant.
I could not watch yesterday's Rizzo's at-bats. He was swinging at pitches while on his knees.
His form is his rookie season Padre bad. He needs to take a day off to clear his head, but the Cubs roster does not have a real back up plan (Baez is not the answer).
When Szczur came off the DL (and Heyward did not go on the DL), the Cubs made the move of designating for assignment relief pitcher Ramirez. This move kept three catchers on the roster. That signals that Montero is not fully healthy (since Ross caught two games in a row). Keeping a marginal emergency third catcher with no offense/OBP is not helping scoring runs.
The call-up needed is Iowa 1B Dan Vogelbach.
He has hit some monster home runs in his sixth minor league season. In 39 games, he has hit .319, 7 HR and 31 RBI. He only has played first base which limits what he can go on the major league roster.
But Kyle Schwarber's surprise promotion did spark the 2015 Cubs. The current Cubs need some sort of instant offense capability since the line up is currently in a collective funk.
The only other option would be catcher Wilson Contreras, but the front office is adamant about not starting service time on him. Contreras, 24, is in his 8th minor league season. He is currently hitting .328, 3 HR, 20 RBI in 37 games. He has played catcher, first base, third base and left field. He would fit the Maddon versatility mold.
Theo Epstein predicted last week the Cubs were going to have a slow, sluggish period. Well, the Cubs are in that rut. The Cubs need to find some offense quickly of the hot start and comfortable lead in the NL Central can evaporate.
Showing posts with label catching. Show all posts
Showing posts with label catching. Show all posts
May 23, 2016
December 27, 2015
A BAKER MAN
Former Cub catcher John Baker has recently signed as an operations assistant for the team.
His job description:
In his new role with the organization, Baker will contribute to all elements within the club’s baseball operations department, including player development and scouting with an eye towards catching and mental skills. He will visit the club’s affiliates to work with the minor league players on and off the field, evaluate amateur players leading up to the draft, and spend time around the major league club among additional responsibilities and opportunities.
What caught my eye was "player development" and "catching and mental skills."
Kyle Schwarber still wants to learn to be a major league catcher. In the minors, he caught and he hit extremely well. There are some players who thrive on being "into" the game on defense. (This is why so many National League hitters fail when they move to DH in the American League, i.e. Adam Dunn and Adam LaRoche.)
And if Schwarber can catch, that is a huge upgrade at a position that is league-wide devoid of power hitters. And moving him back to the plate will make the Cubs outfield defense better by putting a natural outfielder in left.
Schwarber is not suited to play a daily left field. The post season showed his fundamental flaws of trying to learn the position on the fly (in a pressure situation). The Cubs need his bat in the line up because he is a contact hitter who is learning to adjust to major league pitchers. You can't use him as the third catcher all season. (I thought that Montero would catch 3 games a week; Ross catch Lester and Schwarber could catch Hendricks, since they did so in the minors.)
So I would not be surprised that Baker becomes Schwarber's catching tutor.
His job description:
In his new role with the organization, Baker will contribute to all elements within the club’s baseball operations department, including player development and scouting with an eye towards catching and mental skills. He will visit the club’s affiliates to work with the minor league players on and off the field, evaluate amateur players leading up to the draft, and spend time around the major league club among additional responsibilities and opportunities.
What caught my eye was "player development" and "catching and mental skills."
Kyle Schwarber still wants to learn to be a major league catcher. In the minors, he caught and he hit extremely well. There are some players who thrive on being "into" the game on defense. (This is why so many National League hitters fail when they move to DH in the American League, i.e. Adam Dunn and Adam LaRoche.)
And if Schwarber can catch, that is a huge upgrade at a position that is league-wide devoid of power hitters. And moving him back to the plate will make the Cubs outfield defense better by putting a natural outfielder in left.
Schwarber is not suited to play a daily left field. The post season showed his fundamental flaws of trying to learn the position on the fly (in a pressure situation). The Cubs need his bat in the line up because he is a contact hitter who is learning to adjust to major league pitchers. You can't use him as the third catcher all season. (I thought that Montero would catch 3 games a week; Ross catch Lester and Schwarber could catch Hendricks, since they did so in the minors.)
So I would not be surprised that Baker becomes Schwarber's catching tutor.
February 27, 2015
POSITIONING
The Cubs have publicly said that Welington Castillo still has a place with the team.
The idea of having three catchers on the major league roster is really out of the box. With most teams adding an additional pitcher, the position bench is pretty thin. Thus, the rise of the super-sub like Emilio Bonifacio.
There are two reasons for management's comments. First, it is a way to bump up the "trade value" of a surplus catcher. There are many teams that are in need of a quality, major league ready backstop. But no one has pulled the major trigger since the Blue Jays signed Russell Martin. The Jays former starter, Dioner Navarro, had an excellent season so he wants to be traded to start somewhere else. But the Jays have not tried to move him.
Navarro is a better hitting catcher than Miguel Montero, David Ross or Castillo. Navarro's return to the Cubs would have made more sense than replacing Castillo with Montero and Ross, who will be the personal catcher for Jon Lester. Personally, the Montero trade was not an upgrade over Castillo.
Second, there may be some concern that either Montero, who has had two declining years in a row for Arizona, or Ross, who is at the final stage of his career, may break down leaving the Cubs with a huge catching hole since Kyle Schwarber is years away from a big league promotion.
In his major league career, Castillo has only played one game at first base. Otherwise, he has been a catcher. So Castillo does not have the experience to become a super-sub and play multiple positions such as 1B, LF or 3B, the latter two to be manned by journeymen.
The Cubs could try to deal from catching strength if some clubs have spring training injuries to their starting catchers, but at this point that is a long shot.
It is not to say that Castillo would not be better than the 25th man off the bench. But it is a luxury to carry three catchers. It means that a team has a set 8 man daily lineup, which clearly the Cubs do not have.
The idea of having three catchers on the major league roster is really out of the box. With most teams adding an additional pitcher, the position bench is pretty thin. Thus, the rise of the super-sub like Emilio Bonifacio.
There are two reasons for management's comments. First, it is a way to bump up the "trade value" of a surplus catcher. There are many teams that are in need of a quality, major league ready backstop. But no one has pulled the major trigger since the Blue Jays signed Russell Martin. The Jays former starter, Dioner Navarro, had an excellent season so he wants to be traded to start somewhere else. But the Jays have not tried to move him.
Navarro is a better hitting catcher than Miguel Montero, David Ross or Castillo. Navarro's return to the Cubs would have made more sense than replacing Castillo with Montero and Ross, who will be the personal catcher for Jon Lester. Personally, the Montero trade was not an upgrade over Castillo.
Second, there may be some concern that either Montero, who has had two declining years in a row for Arizona, or Ross, who is at the final stage of his career, may break down leaving the Cubs with a huge catching hole since Kyle Schwarber is years away from a big league promotion.
In his major league career, Castillo has only played one game at first base. Otherwise, he has been a catcher. So Castillo does not have the experience to become a super-sub and play multiple positions such as 1B, LF or 3B, the latter two to be manned by journeymen.
The Cubs could try to deal from catching strength if some clubs have spring training injuries to their starting catchers, but at this point that is a long shot.
It is not to say that Castillo would not be better than the 25th man off the bench. But it is a luxury to carry three catchers. It means that a team has a set 8 man daily lineup, which clearly the Cubs do not have.
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