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How A Third Base Platoon Could Work For Chicago Cubs

With multiple players vying for time at the hot corner, the Chicago Cubs could look at a platoon between these two players.
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The Chicago Cubs have a logjam at third base. The same could be said for multiple positions on the roster, but the hot corner offers the most unclear picture of who will win the job come Opening Day.

Manager David Ross faces a monumental task of getting everyone their at-bats without stunting the development of the organization's young players.

“Some guys, you’re doing a disservice in having them be young in their career and maybe young in age and trying to sit for 10 days and come in and play or come off the bench,” Ross said. “I think that’s a very difficult job.

Despite his home run on Tuesday, it's looking more and more like Christopher Morel will begin the year in Triple-A. He played in center field to get his bat into the lineup, a position Cody Bellinger will occupy during the regular season.

Morel had a decent rookie season, but he still has two minor league options left to sort through some of the strikeout issues he saw at the Big League level last year.

The third base job is narrowing down to two players: Patrick Wisdom and Nick Madrigal.

Wisdom has primarily manned third base for the Cubs over the last two seasons. He hit 25 home runs and drove in 66 runs but hit just .207 overall last year. He's flashed a ton of power in his tenure with the Cubs, but the strikeouts have piled up.

His woes at the plate carried over to his play in the field. Wisdom committed a career-high 14 errors at third base in 2022. David Ross challenged the 31-year-old not to let his play at the plate dictate his defense in the field.

“It’s definitely something I needed to hear, not necessarily what I wanted to hear — it’s like a gut punch,” Wisdom told the Chicago Tribune. “Sometimes I was caught on my heels because my mind is somewhere else. I want to perform so well at the plate that it kind of filtered into the field."

The early results on Madrigal learning the position have been positive.

“He’s moving really well," Ross said of Madrigal. "Feels like a totally different player than we saw last year where he looked like he was guarded at times and it was hard work to run. 

"The first ball that was hit to him in the infield – (Cubs bench coach Andy Green) hit it pretty hard after hitting balls in the gap on the infield, outfield – moved his feet, gobbled it up well and threw a nice strong throw. He’s moving well. The arm strength is there."

Ideally, the North Siders would prefer one guy to handle the lion's share of the starts at third, much like Kris Bryant did during his tenure. However, Bryant was moved around, often playing in the outfield to get others playing time.

Which raises the question: could Madrigal and Wisdom co-exist at third base?

A true platoon at the position actually makes a lot of sense both from a player's perspective and from a team trying to be competitive.

Wisdom hit just .191 against righties in 2022 and just .207 in his career. While 2022 was a down year general for Madrigal, the former fourth overall pick in 2018 has hit .286 against righties in his career, including .370 in 2020.

Madrigal has also excelled against lefties, hitting .296 over his career, including .373 in 2021. 

But inserting Wisdom into the lineup against left-handed pitchers, who hit .250 and clubbed ten home runs against southpaws in 2022, would allow the duo to naturally play off one another.

Their splits also offer the opportunity in pinch-hit roles should Ross feel that one has a better chance than the other as the game gets handed over to the bullpens.

That said, this year will almost certainly not be just a straight split between the two players at third base. Guys like Edwin Rios and Zach McKinstry will garner playing time as well. Some will come at third base. The rest will be wherever their bats fit in.

The 2023 Chicago Cubs will prove to be a versatile group, or they will be forced to adapt to that role as the team looks to find its permanent fixtures for the future.

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