Mervis coming up

[Rex Buckingham]

[jersey cubs fan]

[Transmogrified Tiger]

It probably doesn't matter as much on the Mervis end, but I'm curious if the outgoing is Hosmer or Rios(unless there's a hitter ready to hit the DL).  The former seems like 'we gave Hosmer a try and need to save Ross from himself', the latter means their rhetoric about depth worries is at least partially sincere.

[squally1313]

I mean, better than what we have now. But if this is the big move to make within the organization, we're still a long ways away. Maybe I'm just haunted by the LaHairs/Hoffpaiurs of the world (or I have unrealistic expectations based on the KBs/Javys of the world), but upgrading from league average first baseman to above average first baseman is about the most inconsequential thing you can do.

[sneakypower]

i'm glad that we only wasted a month figuring out that a guy who has been replacement level for the last 5 seasons is still a terrible player

[mul21]

2 minutes ago, squally1313 said:

I mean, better than what we have now. But if this is the big move to make within the organization, we're still a long ways away. Maybe I'm just haunted by the LaHairs/Hoffpaiurs of the world (or I have unrealistic expectations based on the KBs/Javys of the world), but upgrading from league average first baseman to above average first baseman is about the most inconsequential thing you can do.

Sure, but this is an upgrade from a hot steaming pile of horsefeathers to likely average to above average production.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

5 minutes ago, squally1313 said:

I mean, better than what we have now. But if this is the big move to make within the organization, we're still a long ways away. Maybe I'm just haunted by the LaHairs/Hoffpaiurs of the world (or I have unrealistic expectations based on the KBs/Javys of the world), but upgrading from league average first baseman to above average first baseman is about the most inconsequential thing you can do.

I think tempering expectations is fine, especially given Mervis's lack of traditional pedigree.  I also think it's a good reminder that in basically every situation, one player is not turning the tides of the season.  Mervis wasn't going to turn a bunch of their recent losses into wins, and he's not gonna drastically change the trajectory of the rest of the season, but it's good that they're getting him on the roster and he should hopefully help shorten the number of non-factors at the end of the order even when injury or rest happens.

[UMFan83]

I'm excited about this but tempered until we figure out what role he is going to have.  Is he coming to start?  Is he going to be the short end of a 3-headed 1B monster?  So far we've seen Velazquez play once every 3-4 games despite hitting well when he's played, and Rios has 20 total ABs and we're about 6 weeks into the season.  If Hosmer isn't being DFA'd as part of this move, I can totally see Mervis falling into the same situation, at least early on.

That said, its clearly not a temporary call up as he's being added to the 40 man in order to come up.  He will get opportunities to play and presumably he's up for good unless he just doesn't play well.

[squally1313]

Rios is the obvious send down here, but would be pretty pleased if they made it Hosmer to send a message to Ross by taking away one of his veterans. Though ultimately I think Rios is similarly pretty worthless (or at least his ceiling is pretty low), so it doesn't really matter.

Nelly is different in that he's stuck behind Happ/Bellinger/Seiya and he's just not supposed to be the caliber of hitter that Mervis is (despite what his 87 PAs tell you this year), so it's not as egregious when he doesn't get DH appearances. 

 

[CubinNY]

The main benefit of Mervis is SLG. Outside of Wisdom that have none. 

[SABR Gamer]

10 hours ago, CubinNY said:

The main benefit of Mervis is SLG. Outside of Wisdom that have none. 

Yeah, Bellinger's .570 SLG is nothing. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

Fun! I know what I'll be doing this afternoon!

[Transmogrified Tiger]

It is Rios being optioned

 

[Bertz]

Mervis is interesting because the data on him is essentially perfect. Seriously, if you plug his AAA peripherals into a FG leaderboard search from the last 15 years the names you get are all monsters with MVP caliber offense like Mark Teixiera, Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion, and Jose Ramirez.  But the scouts are more or less lukewarm on him.  Feels like there's a floor of roughly Rowdy Tellez, but the ceiling is impossible to gauge.

[Brock Beauchamp]

4 minutes ago, Bertz said:

Mervis is interesting because the data on him is essentially perfect. Seriously, if you plug his AAA peripherals into a FG leaderboard search from the last 15 years the names you get are all monsters with MVP caliber offense like Mark Teixiera, Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion, and Jose Ramirez.  But the scouts are more or less lukewarm on him.  Feels like there's a floor of roughly Rowdy Tellez, but the ceiling is impossible to gauge.

Interesting. Tellez is a really nice floor. Is Mervis's defense good? Because Tellez is a butcher at first.

[Bertz]

Just now, Brock Beauchamp said:

Interesting. Tellez is a really nice floor. Is Mervis's defense good? Because Tellez is a butcher at first.

Sounds like the defense is playable but not great.

[Nolansomebody]

About time Mervis got the call up. Hopefully he does well.

[Andy]

Ross saying Mervis will be a regular (i.e. he's not getting the Velazquez treatment). Hosmer getting rave reviews for his willingness to move to a bench role, as you'd expect Ross to give.

[Irrelevant Dude]

Hosmer in a bench role is almost as dumb as Hosmer starting at first base.  What is the point?  He brings no value whatsoever off the bench.  Nobody ever wants to see him entering the game as a pinch hitter in the late innings.

[UMFan83]

This means nothing at all but I find it funny that Mervis is from Potomac, MD and was drafted by the Nationals before he committed to Duke, but the Cubs waited until after the series in Washington to call him up.  Maybe playing in front of his hometown may have been more pressure for him than debuting at Wrigley.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

21 minutes ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

Hosmer in a bench role is almost as dumb as Hosmer starting at first base.  What is the point?  He brings no value whatsoever off the bench.  Nobody ever wants to see him entering the game as a pinch hitter in the late innings.

He's 2 for 3 as a pinch hitter this year, 1.334 OPS!!!!

More seriously, you want a LHH in that role, because the guys on the roster who might be PH for or platooned is very right handed, and there's fewer and fewer LHRP in bullpens.  You could keep Rios in that role, and I'd be fine with that.  But Rios has already had a shot at this role and is hitting .100/.280/.300 w/ and 36% K rate.  Giving Rios everyday reps in Iowa to find his timing if and until Hosmer's production nosedives below that bar seems like a reasonable enough idea to me.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

2 hours ago, Bertz said:

Mervis is interesting because the data on him is essentially perfect. Seriously, if you plug his AAA peripherals into a FG leaderboard search from the last 15 years the names you get are all monsters with MVP caliber offense like Mark Teixiera, Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion, and Jose Ramirez.  But the scouts are more or less lukewarm on him.  Feels like there's a floor of roughly Rowdy Tellez, but the ceiling is impossible to gauge.

How many of them were 25 when they put up those seasons?

[Irrelevant Dude]

3 minutes ago, Hairyducked Idiot said:

How many of them were 25 when they put up those seasons?

I don't know the answer to that, but regardless I don't think that argument holds the same weight post-Covid where progression/development was delayed for so many players.  Sure, I would rather he be putting up huge numbers in AAA at age 22, but for many guys that was never a possibility.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Mervis has just under 1000 PA as a pro and he wasn't repeating AAA after a failed stint or anything like that, so on his side of the ledger I don't think age is all that meaningful for his translation to MLB.  Whether that translation actually includes the names Bertz mentioned depends on how much of their development came after reaching MLB via age-related progression.  Even if that's a healthy chunk of it, Mervis doesn't have to literally be Mark Teixeira to be plenty useful.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

We used to have this argument, I think about Soler but it might have been someone else.  Even if there's a really good reason a guy missed key development years, he still missed them.

I definitely think he could be a useful player, but there's probably a reason he was outside most top-100 lists and barely cracked the ones he did make.