MESA, Ariz. — Patrick Wisdom understands his best path to playing time involves slugging left-handers in a platoon role off the bench.
It’s a position he thrived in during the second half last year, posting a .630 slugging percentage with nine home runs in his final 73 at-bats. Manager Craig Counsell had an up-close view of him feasting on the Milwaukee Brewers’ lefties, Wisdom noted, hitting three off their southpaws in 2023.
“Sorry, I had to throw that in, you teed me up,” Wisdom said, laughing, when asked about how Counsell considers him a weapon against left-handers.
Wisdom has been slowed in camp by right quad discomfort, which only affects him when running. He took five at-bats in a backfield sim game Tuesday, collecting three hits and three RBIs including a home run, and went through an agility workout Wednesday morning. Counsell expects Wisdom to return to the lineup Friday or Saturday.
In conversations with his new manager as far back as the Cubs Convention in January, Counsell conveyed to Wisdom that he envisioned using him versus lefties and playing him at the corner-infield positions, especially if they want to protect the left-handed-hitting Michael Busch from tougher matchups. Wisdom has gotten more reps at first base so far in camp to help him feel more comfortable with the footwork at the position.
“He showed a lot of confidence in me personally, which obviously always feels good, right?” Wisdom said. “So that was nice to have that from the get go and not kind of wonder what’s going on the first few weeks. It’s nice to know your role too. I mean, having that clarity is huge.”
First base is arguably the Cubs’ deepest position. Between the 40-man players who can be used there —Busch, Wisdom, Cody Bellinger and Matt Mervis — and nonroster invitees Garrett Cooper and Dom Smith, the Cubs have options for how they want to build the roster and Triple-A depth.
Cooper’s six-year big-league track record in Miami makes him a potentially intriguing choice to use at first base or designated hitter as a right-handed bat off the bench. However, he doesn’t boast the same power upside as Wisdom, though Cooper believes Marlins Park suppressed his power numbers during his time there.
Can the Cubs conceivably carry Wisdom and Cooper on the roster to start the season?
“It kind of depends on what’s going around them,” Counsell said. “I mean there’s a situation, yes, where I think that could work, but it depends.”
Cooper’s NRI decision came down to the Cubs and Boston Red Sox, ultimately choosing Chicago because he felt it was a better situation to come in and potentially win a roster spot. Slow free agency affected Cooper’s market too. He had multiple teams with big-league offers earlier in the offseason, but they had lower value than Cooper and his agency thought he was worth. The Cubs will have to make a decision by the end of camp on Cooper, who has an opt out in his minor-league deal before opening day on March 26.
“The situation is what it is, there’s not just myself, there’s tons of guys that are sitting at home that now that I’ve talked to all the time that shouldn’t be sitting at home,” Cooper said Wednesday. “A little weird situation a lot of players are in and guys are signing minor-league deals that in my eyes shouldn’t be signing my minor-league deals.
“If it was up to me, I probably would have taken the first offer that I got, but you live and learn and you learn your first time through free agency was definitely a weird one. So no regrets. It’s just part of the business and stuff happens like that.”
Cooper is a player the Cubs have liked for a while, president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said Wednesday, and they stayed on him through the winter. And while Cooper might not have an obvious fit at the moment, Hoyer pointed to Mike Tauchman being in a similar situation going into last season when he started the year at Triple A, got a big-league shot when Bellinger suffered an injury in May and eventually earned everyday playing time.
“I do think that these things evolve with performance and with injuries so I think sometimes looking at it like he’s blocked by so-and-so, it takes one injury and that guy may have the whole year here,” Hoyer said.
If the Cubs decide to keep any of their NRI players, tough moves await Hoyer and the front office to clear 40-man spots. Depending on the severity of Caleb Kilian’s injury, it could create one opening should they need to put him on the 60-day injured list. Kilian (right shoulder discomfort) had an MRI on Wednesday after departing his start Tuesday during the first batter of the third inning. The Cubs were awaiting the results when Counsell spoke with the media, but he admitted “it’s concerning.”
“I expect some really hard decisions,” Counsell said of the NRI options and a full 40-man roster. “I mean, it’s a good problem to have and also knowing that the guys that we put out there on waivers are going to get claimed so it’s just a matter of, like, can we find trades if we have to do that?
“It’s hard to get to that place where you know that you’re potentially sending good players out to other teams.”
