The potential impact of the Chicago Cubs trio of talented prospects was on full display Tuesday. The kids went back-to-back-to-back epic fashion and all three are bombs of epic proportion. Sure, it was Spring Training, but for a Cubs fanbase that has suffered through 3 terrible years comforted only by the promise of their farm system, this signaled the tangible start of something. Sure, the Jon Lester and Joe Maddon additions this offseason signaled that the organization was getting closer to competing, but everyone knew that if this Cubs team was ever going to be anything, it needed its prospects to turn into productive major leaguers. This was the strongest indication yet that that would happen. However, as I watched the gifs and videos of each of the dingers, I realized that the three prodigies are all right handed. Could that–uh–be a problem?
First instinct says: “Well, Starlin Castro is right handed, and so are other prospects Addison Russel, Albert Almora, and it’s probably premature to completely give up on right-handed hitting Mike Olt. Plus, Junior Lake is right handed and he’s kinda fun. So, yeah…”
But that line of thinking forgets about Anothony Rizzo, Dexter Fowler, and Miguel Montero, who all swing the stick from the left side and are mostly established at the Major League level. Throw in that righties are typically less susceptible to platoon splits than lefties, and this could be a non-issue. I appear to have answered my question in only 200 words,and you came here for some analysis. So…
Let’s look at these young guns to see if they’ll struggle individually against same side pitching, because three boppers in the middle who can’t hit righties can’t help the Cubbies win late in games.
Kris Bryant can flat out hit, and doesn’t seem to care if the pitcher throws lefty, righty, or with his feet. His .314/.415/.618 2014 minor league line against righties is actually worse than his line against lefties–about 22% less productive according to his OPS–but then again it’s .314/.415/.618. Chalk that 22% OPS drop to his straight up silly lines against lefties. Bryant seems destined to hit at the big league level, and both the stats and the scouts agree.
Some combination of Addison Russel, Javier Baez and Starlin Castro will form the middle of the infield for the Cubs in the coming years. Are right handers any of their kryptonite? Across nearly 3000 big league at bats, Castro has a .721 OPS against righties and .778 mark against lefties. No real issue. Addison Russel pulled a Kris Bryant against lefties last year to suggest that there could be some looming issue, but in 2013, he hit lefties worse. And Javier Baez’s performance against major league pitching is simply a mystery. Baez will either figure out MLB hitting as a whole, by calming his approach, or continue to struggle against pitchers of both handedness.
Since I’m not too concerned about any of those guys, Jorge Soler’s individual struggles wouldn’t spell the impending Cubs’ dynasty downfall, but rather an acute Achilles’s heel. The good news for Soler? He doesn’t have that heel. Across his total sample size of 733 PA affiliated baseball, he showed a platoon split at first, but appeared to correct that in 2014 when actually hit better against righties.
So do the Cubs have a right handed problem? When you consider that established Major Leaguers Anthony Rizzo, Dexter Fowler, and Miguel Montero will balance the platoon of the young righties who don’t struggle against right handed pitching, there’s no problem in Chicago’s lineup. Not even a little.
-Sean Morash
