One of the key storylines for the newly minted 2015 Major League Baseball season has been that of the imminent call up of top prospect Kris Bryant to the Chicago Cubs. A player that may have demonstrated his readiness to join the big league ranks by leading the league with nine spring training home runs, Bryant was optioned to Iowa, with most concluding that the Cubs were trying to rig his service time. By keeping Bryant in the minors for nine days, the Cubs get that extra year of control on his contract.
Bryant crosses over that threshold and would be eligible to be called up with that extra year on Friday. The Cubs have an off day on Thursday.
Now, the Cubs have insisted that they wanted Bryant to get some extra seasoning in Triple-A to start the year. Many assumed that delaying his callup could indicate a bit of extra time in the outfield in order to get acclimated to what could be his long-term position out in left. However, in five games with Iowa, Bryant has only logged playing time at third base.
Across 24 plate appearances with the Iowa Cubs, Bryant has done exactly what we’ve come to expect from him. He’s reached base at a .375 clip, has eight hits, two of which are home runs, and seven RBIs. It should also be noted that he has six strikeouts through those five games as well, something that Cubs fans should get at least slightly used to seeing in between those mammoth dingers.
Again, Bryant isn’t doing anything that wasn’t already expected of him in a league that he’s already proven capable of dominating. At this point, however, the Cubs have the type of personnel situation that would behoove them to call Bryant up at the earliest possible date. While waiting at least until the end of the weekend series may have made some sense initially, in terms of avoiding any arousal of suspicion in being glaringly obvious about the service time deal, the Cubs are in a position where they need Kris Bryant in their lineup in order to have some stability at the hot corner.
The Cubs have already had Mike Olt, Tommy La Stella, Jonathan Herrera, Arismendy Alcantara, and even Chris Coghlan have all seen time at third base. Welington Castillo took some ground balls at the hot corner as well before Wednesday’s game. The turnover at the position this early in the season really gives a strong indication of how much the Cubs need a presence like Kris Bryant in their lineup.
An injury to reliever Neil Ramirez could delay that callup, as speculated by Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune. However, the Cubs were already rolling with an extra pitcher after having placed Tommy La Stella on the disabled list. So the possibility of calling up Bryant is not completely eliminated, even with that suggestion.
With La Stella out, Mike Olt nursing a sore wrist after being hit by a pitch in Colorado over the weekend, and the Cubs preference to utilize Alcantara as a super utility guy (as well as Jonathan Herrera being the ultimate “that guy” until a more formidable presence is established), the Cubs are in a position where a callup of Kris Bryant is making perfect sense. While the initial consideration may have been to wait it out a bit longer to avoid the criticisms about service time and the like, and perhaps even for a little more outfield time, the Cubs need him sooner rather than later.
Of course, just because the Cubs probably should call up Bryant by Friday doesn’t mean that they will. They could elect to let him start out on the road next week, like they did with Javier Baez last season. Which means that, at worst, this series could be the Cubs’ final set without Kris Bryant at Wrigley Field for a long time. Regardless, it’s becoming incredibly clear that his arrival to Major League Baseball is on the horizon.
