NEWSLETTER
UPDATE: As rumored and speculated, it’s really happening. Today, per multiple reports, the Cubs placed Jason Heyward on the 10-day IL with right knee inflammation, and also transferred Michael Hermosillo (quad) to the 60-day IL. That opened up 26-man and 40-man roster spots for Narciso Crook, who comes up tonight.
*original post follows*
There is nothing official yet, but Iowa Cubs outfielder Narciso Crook is not in the house in Des Moines tonight (Seiya Suzuki is, to begin his rehab assignment). The implication, to me at least, is that Crook could be coming up to the big league team.
Keep in mind, Jason Heyward has a bum knee right now and the Cubs have said they might have to figure out an IL move:
Crook, 26, is a former Reds prospect the Cubs picked up in minor league free agency back in November. After starting slow in the first month of the season, Crook has hit at an absurd clip. Getting him a look this year at the big league level makes a lot of sense, though I’ll admit that the starts are going to be tricky to figure out, what with all of Ian Happ, Chris Morel, Rafael Ortega, Nelson Velazquez, and eventually Seiya Suzuki all still around also. Something will have to give eventually.
In the meantime, I’d love to see Crook get some starts! The power in his bat is quite real, though he will also do the many-many strikeouts thing (he is another one of those guys: tremendous quality of contact, lots of whiffs). Overall, Crook has hit .268/.375/.510/136 wRC+ at Iowa this year, with a 29.9% K rate, an 11.4% BB rate, and 9 homers.
Crook is not on the 40-man roster, mind you, so this would require a 40-man move also. Stay tuned.
UPDATE: Well, at a minimum, Crook is in Chicago:
