BCB After Dark: Goodbye Garrett

BCB After Dark: Goodbye Garrett

It’s another Tuesday evening here at BCB After Dark: the coolest nightclub for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. We’re so glad you stopped by this evening. Come on in. New friends and old, all are welcome. There are still a few tables available. Let us know if you need anything. Bring your own beverage.

BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon.

The Cubs thumped the Houston Astros tonight, 7-2 behind a strong pitching performance by Jordan Wicks and two home runs by Mike Tauchman. Yency Almonte even got a four-out save. The ugly part is that Cody Bellinger hurt his ribs running into the ivy tonight and left the game. I suppose it wasn’t the ivy that was the problem but rather the bricks behind the ivy. The Cubs announced nothing on Bellinger is broken, but they’ll have to see how he feels tomorrow before they know if Bellinger will miss some games.

Last night, I asked you which current Cubs reliever is most likely to lead the team in saves by the end of the year. In first place, 45 percent of you think that Adbert Alzolay will get things straightened out and will get the most saves. In second place was Keegan Thompson with 25 percent. Héctor Neris finished third with 13 percent and Yency Almonte, who got the save tonight, only got two percent of the vote.

On Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, I don’t generally do any movie stuff. You can go back and see what I wrote about Bugsy Malone (1976) yesterday if you haven’t already. But I always have time for jazz, so those of you who skip that can do so now. You won’t hurt my feelings.

Tonight we’re featuring bassist/vocalist/songwriter Esperanza Spalding on Austin City Limits in 2009. This is “Jazz Ain’t Nothin But Soul.”

Welcome back to those of you who skip all that jazz.

Earlier today, the Cubs recalled first baseman Matt Mervis from Iowa and designated first baseman Garrett Cooper for assignment. You may have read about that.

Cooper was a non-roster invite to Spring Training who made the team primarily because Patrick Wisdom started the season in the injured list. But also because he had a solid Spring Training, hitting .250 with a .333 on-base percentage and three home runs in just 32 at-bats.

Cooper didn’t get a lot of opportunity to play for the Cubs this season, getting just 41 plate appearances before being DFA’d. He was meant as a platoon partner for Michael Busch, but Busch has been so good to start the season that it’s been hard to leave him on the bench. But Cooper acquitted himself well in that time, hitting .270/.341/.432 with one home run.

So tonight’s question is: Did the Cubs make the right move by designating Cooper for assignment? The main reason that Cooper was designated is that Patrick Wisdom got healthy and Wisdom was likely to get the right-handed at-bats that Cooper had been getting. But the Cubs could have designated Wisdom for assignment instead.

The other option is that the Cubs could have just left Matt Mervis in Iowa. Mervis was hitting .288/.402/.606 with five home runs in 18 games in Triple-A, so you can see why the Cubs wanted to give him another shot in the majors. But they didn’t have to. They could have kept Mervis in Iowa until there was an injury or until Wisdom or Cooper had played themselves out of a job.

Patrick Wisdom does technically still have minor league options, but he has enough service time to reject an assignment to the minors and become a free agent. So we’re not going to consider “Send Wisdom to the minors” as a viable option. It’s either DFA Cooper, DFA Wisdom or leave Mervis in Iowa.

Thank you for stopping by this evening. We’ve enjoyed having you around. Please clean up around your table. Get home safely. Tell your friends about us. Tip your waitstaff. And join us again tomorrow evening for more BCB After Dark.