Article: Cutting Garrett Cooper Brings Greater Clarity, Broader Opportunity to Cubs Lineup and Bench

[RandallPnkFloyd]

The Chicago Cubs aren't messing around. Less than four full weeks into the season, they've changed the texture of their roster, shaking up the position-player mix in search of a better alignment of options.

Image courtesy of © Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports

Going back to early in the spring, I’ve spent more time than I care to admit thinking about the Chicago Cubs’ roster construction at the infield corners and on the bench, as the two seemed inextricably linked. As the third base picture became clearer and Garrett Cooper earned a roster spot, I wondered how Craig Counsell would balance playing time for Cooper, Christopher Morel, Nick Madrigal, Patrick Wisdom, and (maybe, eventually) Matt Mervis. 

Not that the expectation was that they’d all be on the roster at the same time--especially with Mervis’s optionability. Even still, that’s five names for, functionally, three spots: third base, designated hitter, and first base (to whatever extent Michael Busch left room for someone to claim playing time). The rapid ascent of Busch compressed that down to only the former two spots, but also expedited the process of clarifying it. Morel gets the bulk of the starts at third (16 starts at third, only six appearances as DH). Madrigal fills in late in games (17 appearances, but only seven starts). Wisdom, now healthy, gets the odd start there or in an outfield corner.

What it did, though, was leave something of a redundancy on the roster. Wisdom and Cooper are not dissimilar players at this point in their careers. Like, at all. Decent offensive upside (in between strikeouts) with the ability to make the odd appearance in an outfield corner. Having both of them on one bench unit felt unnecessary, but with so many regulars completely entrenched into everyday roles, it’s probably something that could be balanced over a short stretch.

That stretch ended up being shorter than we expected. With the recall of Mervis, the Cubs would have had to find a way to balance two nearly identical righty bats with an eerily similar left-handed one, albeit with less positional flexibility. Optioning Alexander Canario to make room for Mervis was floated in certain spaces, but didn’t line up with any logic I can discern, given the redundancy. So the Cubs are now set to say goodbye to Cooper, in favor of Wisdom and of Mervis.

In the most direct sense, it’s Wisdom over Cooper. With such similar profiles, it’s logical that the Cubs went with the familiarity of a guy who's done much for them over the last three-plus seasons. That's especially true given that Wisdom has at least made a handful of corner outfield appearances; Cooper’s two trips to left field this year were his first since 2021. However, while this is largely going to be depicted as something of a rearranging of the bench, it probably says more about the composition of the starting lineup than we might initially think.

Morel’s tenure as the everyday designated hitter is over. The corners are more settled than we likely thought they’d be at this juncture, given Busch’s rise and Morel’s seemingly exponential improvement on the other side. That’s left something of a vacancy at the DH spot, though. Cooper spent six games there, against only three as a first-base fill-in. Ian Happ, Seiya Suzuki, and Mike Tauchman are the others (besides Morel) to assume that role multiple times. It’s interesting that while the direct bench comparison – and, just as likely, the ultimate decision – was Wisdom vs. Cooper, it’s Mervis’s arrival that directly impacts Cooper.

There’s a world in which this move results in Mervis assuming a near-everyday DH role, with Wisdom continuing to ply his trade only on occasion. Mervis was excelling in Iowa against right-handed pitching. What we shouldn’t overlook, however, is that he was also holding his own against lefties. His line against southpaws went .300/.360/.650 in 25 plate appearances before his promotion. So not only do you get the boost against righties, but you don’t lose anything on the other side of the plate, given Cooper’s early struggles against pitchers of that handedness, where he was performing noticeably worse than against right-handers.

While it’s not as if Cooper was performing poorly overall (118 wRC+), this winds up being the most logical move from a bench composition standpoint. Madrigal offers defense off the bench. Wisdom brings the same offensive profile and more in the “intangible” department. But as much as this seems like a bench-centric move, it presents significantly more big-picture ramifications for the Cubs’ roster moving forward. Can Mervis be a guy? Could he be the guy out of that DH spot? Not to mention the 40-man implications, which could bode well in attempting to add some relief help soon.

Perhaps I’m blowing it out of proportion, but this reads as more than a simple April DFA of a fringe bat. It shakes things up in all the right ways, with the potential to have some longer-term effects in a way that you don’t typically see.

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