3 questions for the Cubs entering 2023

CHICAGO — The Cubs spent a lot of the final two years keeping track of the long run because the franchise underwent a dramatic roster overhaul. This offseason, the entrance workplace has stepped up spending because it tries to assemble a aggressive membership, whereas the children maintain climbing up the farm system.

Because the calendar flips to 2023, this can be a good time to ponder three questions concerning the season forward for the North Siders.

1. How good can the Cubs’ protection be up the center?

The additions of shortstop Dansby Swanson and middle fielder Cody Bellinger can have a ripple impact on the Cubs’ defensive alignment, and the end result might make Chicago one of many strongest groups up the center subsequent season.

Swanson’s arrival pushes Nico Hoerner to second base, following a standout season because the on a regular basis shortstop. The truth is, solely Swanson (21) had extra outs above common than Hoerner (13) amongst shortstops in 2022. Going again to ’19, when Hoerner broke into the Majors, Hoerner has 36 OAA throughout a number of infield spots, whereas Swanson has 35 OAA.

The Nationwide League Gold Glove Award at shortstop rightly went to Swanson final 12 months. In 2020, Hoerner was a finalist for the award for his work at second base. Chicago posted -4 defensive runs saved total at second in ’22, so Hoerner will undoubtedly present a lift.

Having two shortstop-capable infielders up the center will likely be particularly essential in ’23, given the restrictions on shifts which might be coming to MLB.

“Taking away the shift, the extra athletic, extra dynamic gamers you may get, the higher that is going to assist,” Cubs supervisor David Ross mentioned on the Winter Conferences. “I believe it helps your pitching employees.”

Heart subject is a place the place the Cubs mixed for an MLB-low -19 DRS in 2022. Bellinger had zero DRS in middle final 12 months, however he has 14 DRS in his profession on the spot and gained a Gold Glove in ’19. He will likely be an enchancment.

When Ross was part of the 2016 Cubs, who gained the World Sequence, he had an excellent view behind the plate of one of many nice defensive teams in staff historical past. Now as supervisor, certainly one of his targets is to characteristic a membership that boasts a powerful recipe of pitching and protection.

2. Which prospects have the most effective shot of impacting the staff?

On the finish of the Winter Conferences, because the Cubs nonetheless had a number of areas of clear want up and down the roster, president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer provided an evaluation of the staff’s state of affairs.

“Now we have a bunch of holes,” Hoyer mentioned. “That is one of many challenges we have now. Till our farm system actually begins producing, which I believe will probably be within the subsequent couple of years … you need to fill extra holes in free company.”

Among the Cubs’ high-profile prospects like Pete Crow-Armstrong (MLB Pipeline’s No. 1 Cubs prospect), Kevin Alcantara (No. 3), Cade Horton (No. 4) and Owen Caissie (No. 10), amongst others, might not break into the massive leagues till at the very least 2024.

Within the meantime, two names from the Cubs’ High 30 checklist to essentially regulate this spring will likely be first baseman Matt Mervis (No. 21) and right-hander Hayden Wesneski (No. 12).

There are at-bats up for grabs at first, and Mervis is coming off a breakout displaying throughout Excessive-A, Double-A and Triple-A this previous season (36 homers, 119 RBIs and a .984 OPS). Chicago acquired Wesneski on the Commerce Deadline final summer season, and he spun a 2.18 ERA in a six-outing audition in ’22. He might compete for a rotation job.

The group to look at carefully because the season progresses contains outfielder Brennen Davis (No. 2), lefty Jordan Wicks (No. 5), righty Ben Brown (No. 7), righty Caleb Kilian (No. 14), catcher Miguel Amaya (No. 16) and righty Ryan Jensen (No. 28).

3. Do the Cubs have a sensible shot on the postseason?

The Cubs added Swanson (seven years) and Jameson Taillon (4 years) on multiyear contracts — a 12 months after spending large on free brokers Seiya Suzuki (5 years) and Marcus Stroman (three years). Chicago is definitely searching for to emerge from this attempting rebuilding interval.

No, the Cubs’ roster hardly seems to be primed for World Sequence competition, however the additions ought to push the membership nearer to the pack of Wild Card hopefuls. And given the state of the NL Central, if issues fall good, possibly Chicago can pull into the division dialog.

There are nonetheless quite a lot of ifs, query marks and eventualities that have to wind up within the best-case class for that to occur. This can be a staff that may have quite a lot of work left to do after stripping down its final core group to create a brand new pipeline of up-and-coming expertise.