Jed Hoyer Has Learned His Lesson and the Cubs Have Finally Stabilized Their Bench

[RandallPnkFloyd]

Image courtesy of © Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images

When the Chicago Cubs signed Alex Bregman this past winter, there was an immediate thought that pushing Matt Shaw to the bench and, subsequently, into a utility role, would help to boost a reserve group that had been quite lackluster during Jed Hoyer's term as president of baseball operations. That sentiment itself was something of an oversimplification, but 2026 has shown us that it had at least a kernel of truth embedded within it. 

Hoyer's time atop the Cubs' front office has been anything but black-and-white. While the choices made under his stewardship merit their own lengthy discussion, he's largely been adept at finding value for certain spots, like Michael Busch at first base or a host of reclamation arms for the bullpen, while struggling in other respects. One of those latter components has been his consistent inability to build out a bench. 

Consider, for a moment, some of the players we've seen on the pine at Wrigley Field since 2023: 

• Mike Tauchman (751 PA, 109 wRC+)
• Patrick Wisdom (476 PA, 97 wRC+)
• Miles Mastrobuoni (255 PA, 57 wRC+)
• Trey Mancini (263 PA, 75 wRC+)
• Justin Turner (191 PA, 71 wRC+)
• Jon Berti (107 PA, 42 wRC+)
• David Bote (48 PA, 104 wRC+)
• Vidal Bruján (47 PA, 42 wRC+)

There was also a smattering of small-sample names like Edwin Ríos, Garrett Cooper, Willi Castro, Gage Workman, Carlos Santana, and two turns of Nicky Lopez at various stages. To say nothing of the rotating cast of characters that have been utilized as depth behind the plate (Tucker Barnhart, Tomás Nido, Luis Torrens, etc.). Context and associated mileage varies for each — Tauchman, for example, was closer to a regular than a true bench player — but it otherwise lands as a wide net of past-prime, post-hype names from which the Cubs were hoping to get some level of contribution and got very little outside of defensive versatility. 

That's an important note within all of this, too. Hoyer and company have often sacrificed production from their bench in favor of movable pieces that lacked offensive tools. There's a certain logic in that mindset when you're utilizing maybe the last piece or two on your roster, but when the collective reserves over the last handful of years are mutually exclusive with any notable offensive contribution, you run into the types of problems which this organization has experienced.

The good news to all of this is that those issues appear to be at least moderately behind the Cubs in 2026. There are four names now locked into bench roles for at least the short-term: Shaw, Miguel Amaya, Michael Conforto, and Pedro Ramírez. From a logistical standpoint, that's a group that covers the top objective in your reserves in that they're able to cover each position on the field. 

More importantly, though, it's a quartet that provides actual value off the bench. 

From your reserves, you're not necessarily looking for loud offensive production. You want players who can help the team to remain stable defensively while keeping them afloat offensively in the event of an injury or a starter's singular off day. With Seiya Suzuki staving off a longer-term injury over the weekend, the Cubs are finally in a position where they appear to have that. 

Shaw is central to this given his increasing flexibility around the diamond. He's logged time at first base, second base, third base, and each of the three outfield spots, including 16 appearances in right field. While his bat remains a relative deficiency, his penchant for at least avoiding strikeouts has his wRC+ afloat at 105. It's not a completely dissimilar profile from someone like Ramírez, whose first 40-ish plate appearances have yielded identical 8.1 percent walk and strikeout rates and a 108 wRC+. 

The real offensive value off the bench has come in the form of Conforto and Amaya. Conforto's June is off to a rough start, but he's still turned in a .216 isolated power figure and a 118 wRC+ across more than 100 plate appearances to date. He's also walked at a 14 percent clip, which has compounded with his power output to compensate for a strikeout rate over 30 percent. Amaya, meanwhile, has an on-base percentage over .350 and a 109 wRC+ when stepping in for Carson Kelly behind the plate. 

That's a group that Craig Counsell can work with. Save for someone like Tauchman in the last few years, the Cubs have been forced to deploy an extensive collection of bodies capable of handling a glove but not so much a bat. Even if hasn't come together with complete intention — Ramírez was called up upon an injury to Shaw, Conforto emerged from a group of four potential throw-it-at-the-wall candidates in the spring — the result is a bench that finally looks respectable in comparison with what the Cubs have worked with in the past few seasons. 

Jed Hoyer doesn't have a ton of recent wins to his name considering the state of the pitching staff and absence of early returns on Alex Bregman, but the bench is certainly something for him to hang his hat on.

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[Banks-Williams]

I’d like to see Shaw and PCA as number 1 and 2 hitters. Both are hot and both have speed to move around the bases when they get on base.  When Hoerner gets hot again, you can throw him into the mix.  Cubbies are a team that hits homers but can also manufacture runs.  Put Busch, Happ, and Suzuki behind the hitters with speed and the runs will happen early in the game, giving the pitchers a nice buffer.

[Banks-Williams]

Willie Castro is surely showing Hoyer his mistake for letting him get away.  For some unexplained reason, Hoyer spent a fortune on the cheater Bregman who doesnt hit as good, has no speed, isn’t anywhere near as versatile, and wasnt even needed with Shaw’s abilities at 3rd.