Perhaps this is premature, and with the caveat that this is why the Cubs pay Jed Hoyer and Carter Hawkins and David Ross to think about this stuff while I’m just another keyboard warrior, but I think the Cubs have some, shall we say, roster inefficiencies that need to be taken care of.
For the most part, the bullpen is fine, but as AC and others would have you know, Michael Fulmer has not been filling us with confidence based on his recent performances, and for me personally, I’m a bit anxious whenever Brad Boxberger throws. I’m generally impressed with the other guys in the bullpen, particularly the long relief tandem of Adbert Alzolay and Keegan Thompson, but it’s probably getting to the point where they need to figure out what to do about Fulmer, whether it’s one of those phantom IL stints or just having him mop up until he figures it out. The Cubs will have to patch work some stuff together until Jameson Taillon gets healthy again, and probably need to get Hayden Wesneski a therapist or something to get him to throw more competitive pitches to set up his arsenal, but I don’t think the pitching is the problem.
The issue is, of course, with an offense that could probably be better than they’ve shown over these first 20ish games. It’s kind of frustrating to see six solid lineup spots and then the final three (including the catcher du jour) being like sub-.650 OPS guys. I think Eric Hosmer’s days are probably numbered, although he always seems to do just enough to stave off the release another game. I think Trey Mancini has shown better results lately and I feel like he’s got enough of a track record pre-Houston that you let him ride. But there’s a couple of guys in Luis Torrens and Edwin Rios that are just kind of there doing a weird squatters’ rights thing for those roster spots, and at some point it has to stop.
I don’t think Nick Madrigal’s going anywhere if only for that contact bat (despite the game-ending GIDP, that was a Sadrigal moment) and the marginal defensive versatility. I also don’t think they’re get rid of Hosmer for mostly PR reasons because they don’t want to show that they’ll sign a guy and promise them an opportunity and then cut him in April. But Torrens and Rios are probably expendable, with Torrens needing to pass through waivers, but at this point, do you care all that much even if he did scald the ball lately? Rios is basically a whiffy guy and I don’t even recall the last time he played which is probably bad because he likely at least pinch hit or something this weekend.
The Cubs are notoriously patient about these things even if it frustrates the fan base, and I assume they have a plan in place and are playing some long game, but at some point you have to think they’ll just call up Matt Mervis and Christopher Morel. This lineup and the team as a whole has played well enough to earn those reinforcements.