Upcoming infield options, Ortega’s Nice Run, rehabilitation missions and other Cubs balls

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Closest to the Mets, Edwin Diaz, missed his third stopping opportunity in a row last night. I mention it here at the top of these Bullets for no particular reason.

• Last night’s loss pushed the Cubs 9.5 games behind the Brewers, tied for their biggest deficit of the season (they hit it in the Phillies series, then briefly rebounded). The Brewers open a two-man game with the Royals today, while the Cubs BATTLE to return to third place with the Cardinals. Not what we would have hoped this late-July series of rivalries would be.

• I have to give some more love to Rafael Ortega, who continues to strike against righties (.290 / .343 / .452, 117 wRC +), and plays solid defense anywhere in the outfield. He had a great catch at the start of last night’s game:

• Just 30 years old, Ortega is not a prospect or guy you can realistically bet on as a ‘future’, but as we discussed when he signed a minor league contract, he is one of those guys who’s been too good for Triple-A for four years now. Was it worth giving it a shot, in a new organization, to see what might happen, and maybe everything has come together to make it a solid piece of bench for a few years now? It happens, especially if your hopes / expectations are reasonable. The challenge will be his lack of options in the minor leagues, but I wouldn’t hate to see him get more starts in the second half to see if there really is an evolution here. The sample is still very small (he has 80 successful APs this year, compared to 447 unsuccessful APs spread over several seasons before this year).

• The other side of the coin is that if Ortega is one of those guys that a team wants to recruit in the coming week, knowing that they can no longer buy additional parts in August (no more exchange period override), you could let him go into a very modest trade because there’s at least a 50/50 hit, you’re not going to want to keep him on the 40 men in the offseason anyway.

• When Nico Hoerner was excluded from Sunday’s game and didn’t start last night, you wondered if something was wrong. It wasn’t that long ago that he came back from a serious hamstring injury, and maybe he felt a little something and the Cubs are playing it safe? If so, I haven’t heard anything from it. And Hoerner was interviewed before yesterday’s game, but it was just a normal interview about playing a stretch like this on a team that doesn’t win. Of course, if he’s okay, then why was he double fired and sat down in favor of Eric Sogard in the last 1.5 games? The Cubs surely don’t try to showcase Sogard for a team to take him back into the business as a bench man, right? I’ve been fairly easily sold on Sogard as a pre-season minor league subcontractor and possible bench player, but he hits .230 / .281 / .294 (57 wRC +) in his last 119 games (this season and last season). The defense has been largely solid, despite the mistake last night, but there just isn’t a bat there. I don’t really see the point in seated Hoerner in favor of Sogard at any time at this time.

• Speaking of this position, David Bote’s rehab mission continues in Iowa, where he will likely play again tonight. He plays alongside Matt Duffy, who is expected to be activated on Thursday. Bote is probably not far behind, and maybe that’s part of why Sogard is running a bit more? Because the Cubs know he could get the DFA in a few days, so they want him to play a bit more before that happens, and then they try to move him during DFA week (which would also be DFA week). until the deadline)? Seems like overkill to me, but either way, with Duffy and Bote returning very soon, the infield and roster lineup will change, and I suspect the Cubs will want these two guys to start right away juuuuuuust au case a team just called on July 30th.

• Add Patrick Wisdom and Kris Bryant and Javy Báez, and it’s going to be a very full infield of guys you want to start. Well, unless, you know. Things are happening.

• For Hoerner, the importance of the start only concerns development for 2022 and beyond:

• Last night’s match (the season?) In a few pictures:

• Obviously you take double, right? I was surprised by the answers:

• Great photo of the Darvish Prospects (which, very soon, we will stop referencing them this way, especially since Caissie and Preciado are exploding in the ACL):

• Bryan is the best. I’ll join him in there. So clap your fingers today, guys:

• Be sure to check out the BN Blogathon details here!



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