This week, Cubs President Jed Hoyer was asked about when Matt Mervis, who is crushing it again at Iowa, would be up to join the big league team.
Hoyer did not take the bait.
“At some point, Matt’s going to impact the Cubs,” Hoyer said, per Cubs.com. “There’s no question. When that is? I don’t know.”
Yes you do, Jed. You kinda do. But I don’t blame you for not getting into it precisely. There’s no upside there, especially because “plans” are always flexible and subject to the vagaries of baseball. Things can change on a dime.
All that said, I think the Cubs know that, if Mervis keeps raking, they’re going to have to give him big league time sooner rather than later. And I think it sounds like even a guy like Eric Hosmer realizes it.
From Ken Rosenthal’s latest at The Athletic, a snippet on how Hosmer views his role is very telling:
In 2011, Hosmer was the Royals’ version of Mervis, a hot prospect who made his debut on May 6, pushing Billy Butler into a DH role. Such ebb and flow, he knows, is part of the game, and out of his control. Hosmer remains a strong clubhouse presence whom the Cubs credit with helping establish the positive vibe around the club this season. And he intends to act as professionally with Mervis as he did with Casas, who attended the same high school as Hosmer, American Heritage in Plantation, Fla.
“This is my 13th year in the league. I’m not going to sit here and be bitter about a young kid coming up. That’s not right,” Hosmer said. “This game provided me with a lot of things in life. I owe it to the game to give back.
“I was in spring with Matty. I was always trying to help, give him my two cents on what’s coming for him in the league, how you can simplify some stuff. It’s not something where I’m watching over my shoulder, or living and dying by his at-bats. When it comes that time, that’s when you can move on and do something else. I know he’s going to be a big part of this organization. I’ve got to help him any way I can.”
Whenever it is that Mervis comes up, you’ve gotta believe it won’t be as a part-time, role player. Sure, he may sit in favor of Trey Mancini or Patrick Wisdom against some tough lefties sometimes, but he will be playing – at first base or DH – most days he’s up. There is no other point to bringing him up than to try to get some impact right away from his bat.
If that’s the case, most of the ceded at bats will have to come from the other lefty-hitting first base/DH type in Hosmer. I’m sure Hosmer knows that, and his comments reflect a veteran who is not only at peace with his situation, but embraces it. I think he’s say, behind the explicit words, that he wants to be an active part of helping Mervis become a regular in the big leagues. As in, Hosmer wants to stay part of this clubhouse, even if he is relegated to a pure bench role.
I’m reading between some lines there, of course, and I could be wrong. And none of that is to say that the Cubs would view Hosmer as an ideal bench guy when they have to crunch the 26-man and 40-man roster numbers. It would be difficult to accommodate all of Hosmer, Mancini, and Mervis, especially if the Cubs want to actually have a back-up outfielder – just one! – on the roster. It can be done (Edwin Rios and Luis Torrens are barely playing), but it’s tight. It reduces a lot of flexibility.
At this point, though, I’m on Mervis Watch. I don’t know that he’s coming up this weekend or anything, but after a month of play at Triple-A this year, confirming that last year’s half-ish year there wasn’t a fluke, the Cubs are going to want a chance to see what he can do against big league pitching. I’d put the over/under at May 15, and I think I might take the under.