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Chicago Cubs 2021 season
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<blockquote data-quote="champaignchris" data-source="post: 1650664" data-attributes="member: 26283"><p>Post deadline things to watch with the Cubs in the order in which I thought of them:</p><p></p><p>1. How real is Patrick Wisdom? Even after that explosive first 15 games, he's managed to continue to be respectable with the bat while showing a nice arm at third. I don't think the Cubs can expect him to be a .900 OPS batter going forward, but a perfectly serviceable .775 OPS hitter seems reasonable. If he can be a cheap and pretty good answer at one of the corner infield spots for a few years, that means the Cubs can spend their copious amounts of free agent spending cash on other positions.</p><p></p><p>2. Similar question on Hoerner. He's a gold glove caliber defender. Can he keep showing enough with the bat that the Cubs can consider one of the middle infield spots covered for the near future?</p><p></p><p>3. Can Bote and Happ recover some value? They're young, cheap, controlled for a few more years, and before this year had a good track record with their bats. They've both been hurt and bad when healthy this year. (Although Bote has looked good in his first 3 games since coming off the IL.) Can either or both of them show enough over the course of the rest of the year to warrant consideration as vital parts of the team going forward?</p><p></p><p>4. Do any of the veterans who are not traded get extensions? Not just the stars like Baez, Rizzo or Bryant, but Chirinos looks like a guy that you might want to have back. Does Marsinick keep playing in a way that makes his $4MM team option look really reasonable? </p><p></p><p>5. Any position players from the farm make a bid for playing time? Particularly Deichmann and Hermosillo. Can either of them show enough for the Cubs to think they're part of the outfield mix in 2022?</p><p></p><p>6. Starting pitcher tryouts... Justin Steele is being stretched out to start after really impressing in relief. They just sent Keegan Thomas down to do the same after being even more impressive in relief. Alec Mills has been relatively impressive since coming back to the rotation. Alzolay continues to work out the kinks. Brailyn Marquez should be back in the Big Leagues at some point this year. Trevor Williams and Kohl Stewart are both still under Cubs control next year. Can any of these guys nail down a starting spot alongside Kyle Hendricks and however many free agents get brought in?</p><p></p><p>7. Some very intriguing bullpen arms... I want to see some more Tommy Nance. I think he got overused in his last few appearances, causing his ERA to balloon. Has Dillon Maples really, truly finally figured it out? Can Brad Wieck get over his health problems and come back to what he was doing before his ticker started acting up again? (Probably no point in pushing him in this lost year.) Can Rowan Wick ever get over his oblique injury? (Probably no point in pushing him in this lost year.) Can we get Ben Leeper and Manuel Rodriguez up from AAA and see what they can do?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="champaignchris, post: 1650664, member: 26283"] Post deadline things to watch with the Cubs in the order in which I thought of them: 1. How real is Patrick Wisdom? Even after that explosive first 15 games, he's managed to continue to be respectable with the bat while showing a nice arm at third. I don't think the Cubs can expect him to be a .900 OPS batter going forward, but a perfectly serviceable .775 OPS hitter seems reasonable. If he can be a cheap and pretty good answer at one of the corner infield spots for a few years, that means the Cubs can spend their copious amounts of free agent spending cash on other positions. 2. Similar question on Hoerner. He's a gold glove caliber defender. Can he keep showing enough with the bat that the Cubs can consider one of the middle infield spots covered for the near future? 3. Can Bote and Happ recover some value? They're young, cheap, controlled for a few more years, and before this year had a good track record with their bats. They've both been hurt and bad when healthy this year. (Although Bote has looked good in his first 3 games since coming off the IL.) Can either or both of them show enough over the course of the rest of the year to warrant consideration as vital parts of the team going forward? 4. Do any of the veterans who are not traded get extensions? Not just the stars like Baez, Rizzo or Bryant, but Chirinos looks like a guy that you might want to have back. Does Marsinick keep playing in a way that makes his $4MM team option look really reasonable? 5. Any position players from the farm make a bid for playing time? Particularly Deichmann and Hermosillo. Can either of them show enough for the Cubs to think they're part of the outfield mix in 2022? 6. Starting pitcher tryouts... Justin Steele is being stretched out to start after really impressing in relief. They just sent Keegan Thomas down to do the same after being even more impressive in relief. Alec Mills has been relatively impressive since coming back to the rotation. Alzolay continues to work out the kinks. Brailyn Marquez should be back in the Big Leagues at some point this year. Trevor Williams and Kohl Stewart are both still under Cubs control next year. Can any of these guys nail down a starting spot alongside Kyle Hendricks and however many free agents get brought in? 7. Some very intriguing bullpen arms... I want to see some more Tommy Nance. I think he got overused in his last few appearances, causing his ERA to balloon. Has Dillon Maples really, truly finally figured it out? Can Brad Wieck get over his health problems and come back to what he was doing before his ticker started acting up again? (Probably no point in pushing him in this lost year.) Can Rowan Wick ever get over his oblique injury? (Probably no point in pushing him in this lost year.) Can we get Ben Leeper and Manuel Rodriguez up from AAA and see what they can do? [/QUOTE]
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