Ben Zobrist No Longer at Iowa? Next Stop Tennessee?
When Ben Zobrist began his Minor League rehab assignment (or whatever you want to call it) on August 2nd, he played three games in A-Ball South Bend, before moving upward through the system for another three games at High-A Myrtle Beach.
But after that, he skipped right over Double-A Tennessee and made his way to Triple-A Iowa, where he’s played in three more games for the I-Cubs. And now, he’s on the move again, but it’s probably not for Chicago:
Ben Zobrist not active with the @iowacubs today. No word on where he's off to next. Though, Tennessee is probably the likely spot. Smokies are home later this week and Zobrist is from Tennessee.
— Tommy Birch (@TommyBirch) August 19, 2019
It may have appeared, initially, like Zobrist was skipping over Double-A Tennessee because he was advancing more quickly than expected, but in reality this was probably always the plan. We don’t have confirmation on whether or not he’s headed to Tennessee just yet, but that does appear to be likely – especially when you consider where we are on the calendar.
Remember, the big league rosters expand in September, and whether or not you believe there are players on the big league bench that could be easily replaced by Zobrist right now, the path of least resistance – and most success for Zobrist, himself – remains waiting until September 1st to make a move. We’ll update this post when we hear more.
In the meantime, here’s Zobrist’s slash line through 9 games (32 PAs): .222/.344/.481 (129 wRC+); 15.6% walk rate, 18.8% strikeout rate.
And here’s the Tennessee Smokies up-coming schedule:
- August 20-22: @Jackson Generals (in Tennessee)
- August 23-27: at home vs. Birmingham Barons
- Off-day on August 28th, before hitting the road to face the Mobile BayBears in Alabama. I can’t imagine Zobrist will make this trip.
