The Chicago Cubs today swapped Jason Heyward and Greg Deichmann out, with the former getting activated off the IL, and the latter getting sent back down to Triple-A Iowa.
It was an ugly first 23 plate appearances for Deichmann, who struck out eight times, didn’t walk, and notched just four singles. He was a pesky plate appearance, which was good, and he was facing the Brewers’ most dominant pitchers for half of those plate appearances. So I don’t know that you can take too much away from such a tiny sample. Obviously the goal for Deichmann in this stretch is to get exposure to big league pitching, and learn how to use the information gleaned to improve his overall production. To that end, I’m sure he got some valuable experience so far. I just would’ve liked to have seen a longer leash for him.
As for Heyward, I don’t know what you can really expect the rest of the way. If the terrible season continues, then it’s conceivable he doesn’t last the winter on the 40-man roster. If he somehow turns things around and gets scorching hot, I still don’t think you can justify expecting him to be a starter next year. So it’s kind of a “what’s the point” situation, relative to letting someone like Deichmann or Michael Hermosillo get those starts.
I expect Deichmann to be back in September when rosters expand, and if that happens, you hope he’ll see more starts. He may not break camp next year with the big league team, but he does figure to at least be an up-and-down guy (with the potential to become a regular). More big league experience now, when it’s all just about getting those PAs, would be a very good thing in my view.