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Should Chicago Cubs Continue to Roster Hosmer Over Top Prospects?
It's the worst-kept secret on the Chicago Cubs: first baseman/designated hitter Eric Hosmer is not good.
More specifically, he's not good with runners in scoring positions and has not come through.
After signing the 33-year-old to a one-year deal back in January, he's under-delivered for the Cubs. At 94 at-bats this season, he's slugging .234/.280/.330 with two homers and 14 RBIs. Hosmer also has a very uninspiring OPS of .610.
Chicago isn't really trusting him at first base all that much, ending up more often than not as the DH. He is sluggish and many wonder why he's taking up room when there are much better options.
Those options have two names: Matt Mervis and Christopher Morel.
Mervis, first and foremost, already has half the home runs that Hosmer does in a Cubs uniform. Ther 25-year-old first baseman crushed his first MLB homer in the second inning of Tuesday's 7-3 loss to the Houston Astros. It clanked off the right-field foul pole. He went 2-4 on the night in addition to his homer.
Not a bad start.
It was a slow start to his major-league career. In 34 plate appearances before Tuesday, Mervis had a .515 OPS with 1 extra-base hit and a 41.2% strikeout rate. He's slugging .250/.289/.361 in nine games played.
He's become more confident as a hitter since he was called up on May 9th. The ability to pounce on fastballs in the zone and spit on off-speeds intended for him to chase is gonna be where he shines.
Morel also came up from Triple-A Iowa on May 9th. He also took a bit longer on the yellow brick road to the MLB. But the 23-year-old super utility player took his superb minor league career to the first six games in a Cubs uniform.
He's slugging .333/.333/.800 with four homers and nine RBIs over seven games. All four homers have been over 400 feet. Morel's had a hit in each of his seven games and three multi-hit games.
Just say he's the Morel support of the team.
With both rookies doing well in their MLB debuts, the Cubs don't need to carry Hosmer on the 40-man active. Especially if he's performing at the same low level for the next months of 2023.
Sometimes you have to let the youths shine.
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