Hey, I am mainly writing this because I do think Pete Crow-Armstrong should be starting Monday night against the Colorado Rockies, but also I’m on a bit of a hot streak complaining about the lineup and then looking dumb immediately after. But I’ll take that if it means the Cubs actually score some runs.
The thing is, the Cubs should be able to score against lefty Kyle Freeland, who has a 5.09 ERA in 27 starts this year, but that doesn’t mean you just keep putting out poor performing players in the starting lineup. He’s a lefty, so that means Mike Tauchman is on the bench to begin the game and hopefully that becomes more of a trend overall because he’s sucked for the past month. So, Cody Bellinger is in center field.
Jeimer Candelario isn’t playing after leaving Sunday’s game with a tight back, which means Nick Madrigal is at third base and Patrick Wisdom is at first base Monday night.
I don’t really mind either player as long as they’re being utilized as backups and you know what, I don’t actually mind Madrigal playing as much because his defense at third base has been valuable for the Cubs this season. But man, no reason to have two struggling hitters in the lineup at the same time.
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I mean, sure, Wisdom against a lefty and a guy who is worse against right-handed batters should be a good matchup for him tonight.
But it’s not like PCA hasn’t been decent when hitting against lefties during his time in the minors.
And it’s probably fine, PCA will most likely start Tuesday, when the Rockies have righty Chris Flexen scheduled to pitch, but for a team like the Cubs that talks so much about how they prioritize defense, why wouldn’t you want Bellinger at first base over Wisdom and then have PCA in center field, where he’s shown that he can cover a lot of ground?
Sure, I’m nit-picking a little here, but we’re talking about your best prospect that has elite skills. Use them as much as possible, no?
Ross did say that unlike Alexander Canario, Crow-Armstrong will get some starts.
I get Ross sticking up for the players that have been around, but c’mon, Pete Crow-Armstrong is the best prospect in one of the top farm systems in baseball. Play him.
