There is no doubt that Christopher Morel is disappointed that he will not be on the Cubs Opening Day roster, especially when you consider that he did a lot more than say Nick Madrigal to earn a spot on the big league team to begin the regular season. As much as I’m not a fan of the move either, it is completely understandable why the Cubs are choosing to send Morel to Triple-A to start the year.
Morel, who is 23-years-old, went from Double-A straight to the majors last year and in 2021 he only played in nine games at Triple-A. He got off to an incredible start with the Cubs, getting on base at a ridiculous pace, while showing off his great athleticism all over the field. Morel has the tools every team loves in a player, as the right-handed hitter consistently hit the ball hard and he also has a cannon for an arm.
However, there were the rookie struggles and they hit Morel hard at the end of the season. Overall, Morel had a .741 OPS and had 16 home runs in 379 at-bats with the Cubs, but he also struck out 32.2 percent of his plate appearances, including a 38.2 strikeout rate from August until the end of the season.
The mandate was clear for Morel, who was asked to work on his plate discipline in the offseason and he’d be evaluated throughout spring training. We saw all that Morel has to offer, good and bad, in Cactus League play, as he went 14-for-52 (.269 batting average) with four home runs and four doubles.
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Yet, Morel also struck out 24 times!
So yeah, in the long term, Morel getting every-day at-bats at Triple-A will most likely be better for his development rather than him staying on the bench and only getting a handful of plate appearances every series with the Cubs.
With Morel going to Iowa, the Cubs position player group is now set. Here are the 13 players that will begin on the Opening Day roster.
Catchers
Yan Gomes, Tucker Barnhart, Luis Torrens
Infielders
Eric Hosmer, Nico Hoerner, Dansby Swanson, Edwin Rios, Nick Madrigal
Infield/Outfield
Trey Mancini, Patrick Wisdom, Miles Mastrobuoni
Outfielders
Ian Happ, Cody Bellinger
Besides Morel, the last few names who were competing for a roster spot but didn’t make the team include outfielder Mike Tauchman, who was reassigned to minor league camp and infielder Zach McKinstry, who was traded to the Detroit Tigers on Monday in exchange for right-handed pitcher Carlos Guzman.
You can read more about the McKinstry trade in the link below.
The Cubs 26-man roster is almost finalized. It appears as though there is only one opening that hasn’t been decided in the bullpen and that’s who is going to take Brandon Hughes spot.
Hughes has been dealing with a knee issue all camp and for now is being limited to throwing bullpen sessions. The lefty seems like he’s headed to the injured list to begin the season.
Here are the names we know will be on the pitching staff come Opening Day.
Starting Rotation
Marcus Stromam, Jameson Taillon, Justin Steele, Drew Smyly, Hayden Wesneski
Bullpen
Michael Fulmer, Brad Boxberger, Julian Merryweather, Adbert Alzolay, Javier Assad, Keegan Thompson, Michael Rucker
The last spot may ultimately go to either Mark Leiter Jr. or Ryan Borucki. Stay tuned as we’ll update when the Cubs officially announce their Opening Day 26-man roster.
