Despite having baseball’s hardest schedule in April, the Chicago Cubs are going to come out of the month at least three games over .500, and they hold one of the easiest remaining schedules. After a 3-1 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday, Chicago sits at 17-12 atop the NL Central division. There is one thing still preventing Chicago from being a true contender in the NL, and that is third base.
With their pursuit of Alex Bregman in the offseason, the Cubs clearly did not feel comfortable with what they were entering the season with at the position. Top prospect Matt Shaw was given the starting job after his performance in spring training and Chicago hoped he would be the answer. That was not the case, and Shaw was optioned to Triple-A Iowa after just 18 games played.
Five players have spent time at third base for the Cubs already this season. That list includes Shaw, Gage Workman, Justin Turner, Jon Berti and Vidal Brujan. Those five players have given Chicago the No. 21 spot (-0.3) in Wins Above Average at the third base position. It is not just the offensive struggles that are cause for concern, but the defensive struggles as well. Workman made two errors in just nine total chances, good for a .778 fielding percentage. Brujan made a costly mistake on Sunday that led to a Phillies run in the top of the 10th inning.
It is a position that is a clear weakness that Chicago must address before it becomes too late. There are a couple of different ways that the Cubs could approach the situation. The first would be to bring Shaw back up to the major leagues and let him work out his issues. Yes, the struggles at the plate would be tough to look past, but his defense would be levels above anyone else currently playing the position.
The second way is to explore the third base trade market. There are a few trades that Chicago could explore to make a splash and massive upgrade at the position. Whatever the final decision is, it is important that the Cubs address the situation sooner rather than later, before it begins to cost them games and potentially even a division championship.
