By Jordan Long
The Chicago Cubs are coming off a 95-68 season making the postseason for the 4th year in the row. It ended in disappointment because they lost to the Colorado Rockies in the Wild Card game by the score of 2-1 in 13 innings. The Cubs wanted to upgrade the infield during the offseason especially since shortstop Addison Russell will be suspended the first 40 games of 2019 due to abuse of his wife. The Cubs decided to sign infielder Daniel Descalso to a 2-year, $5 million contract.
Descalso doesn’t have a natural position. He can play every position in baseball except for catcher and center field. Descalso appeared in 138 games for the Arizona Diamondbacks last year. In those games he was mostly at 2nd base but was used at 1st base, 3rd base, and left field. His weakest position was 2nd base. In 52 games he made 4 errors, far too many. Overall, he totaled 9 errors all of last year which isn’t bad.
At the plate he is not a batter who smacks home runs but is able to be on base to help the Chicago offense. Last season he hit .238 with 13 home runs and 57 RBI’s. Those numbers are not that impressive, but Descalso is able to be in scoring position, slugging 22 doubles and 4 triples.
The Cubs are hoping Descalso can be the everyday shortstop until Russell is off of his suspension. The problem is he hasn’t appeared at shortstop since 2016 when he was a member of the Colorado Rockies. Descalso can handle the duties of being the shortstop. Once Russell comes back, Descalso will be used at every position in the infield as the backup and start from time to time.
This is not a bad addition. Descalso can improve the infield. The Cubs still have work to do to make a run back to the World Series. The bullpen is the next position they will need to boost. Once they do that, the Cubs might have a chance to make a deep playoff run yet again. ty
Sounds like a solid signing at a key position.