The Chicago Cubs offense has been able to score runs so far this season, but they could use another influx of power to their lineup.
As luck may have it, a team within their own city could be trading away a young slugger who occupies a role of need.
With the Chicago White Sox in the middle of a very poor season, tied for the worst record of the league with the Colorado Rockies, a fire sale may be imminent.
USA Today’s Bob Nightengale mentioned designated hitter Eloy Jimenez as someone that is expected to be moved, and the Cubs should absolutely be interested in him.
Jimenez is currently slashing .231/.291/.297 in a big down year, which could play into the White Sox wanting to move on from him.
The good news on the front is that the advanced numbers suggest that he’ll probably turn things around and find himself a bit closer to his career numbers of .273/.323/.481.
With the 27-year-old’s slashing numbers so low, one would assume he’s completely different at the plate than he has been in the past. He really hasn’t been, though, outside of a couple big things.
One of the biggest differences in his game is that he has almost completely abandoned the opposite field at the plate. The previous low for opposite field percentage in his career was 22.3%. This year it has tanked to just 8.6%.
The Dominican Republic native is also hitting the ball hard less often, seeing a drop of about 10.2% of his contact being considered “hard.”
Those two things could be big factors in the biggest outlier stat for this season, his drop in BABIP.
Last year, he was at .305 and the year before that was .337. This season, he is all the way down at .255.
That is an outlier, that it is likely to even out. Even if he doesn’t reach the same percentages this season, a rental of a designated hitter wouldn’t break the bank too much for a team who needs to take risks on offense.
The former Silver Slugger has actually been very productive when playing in Wrigley Field throughout his career. In nine games, he has a .412 batting average with four home runs and eight RBIs.
If the trade were to happen, it would give the Cubs some flexibilty with their current roster as well.
Patrick Wisdom has recently been locked into the DH role, with Michael Busch at first base. After Busch’s hot start, he’s come crashing back down to earth. It wouldn’t hurt to have Wisdom play first, which also frees Busch up to play third base if they need him to.
