Does Matt Mervis Still Have a Future with the Cubs?

Going into the 2023 season, Cubs fans had the highest hopes for first base prospect Matt Mervis. In 2022, Mervis flew through minor leagues, playing games in A+, AA, and AAA. He finished 2022 slashing .309/.379/.606 between the three leagues. Not to mention, he hit 36 home runs and finished with 119 RBI’s. The Cubs, meanwhile, signed veterans Eric Hosmer and Trey Mancini to fill the void left by Anthony Rizzo a season before. Hosmer was okay defensively, but horrible at the plate and Mancini was just a horrible signing overall. It looked like the signing of the two veterans going into the 2023 season meant it was only a matter of time for Mervis to come up and take control of the Cubs’ open first base role for many years to come.

The Cubs were desperately missing a power, left-handed bat in the middle of the lineup that could play first base. Again, Hosmer did well defensively, but did not fill the power-hitting role needed. Mancini was right-handed and frankly a terrible first baseman. So, it seemed Mervis was poised for his role and break onto the scene at any moment. Cubs’ fans posted on Twitter everyday for a month and a half, pleading with the Cubs to give Mervis his chance. And it finally came. May 5th of 2023, Mervis received the call-up. I remember being so excited for that game that I stepped away from my cubicle at work to watch every one of his at-bats that day. His RBI-double to the wall late in the game told me all I needed to know: the Cubs had found their first baseman.

However, it was short lived. Just over two months later, the Cubs sent the young first baseman back down to AAA. He simply hadn’t produced like everyone had hoped, only slashing .167/.242/.289 with 3 homers and 11 RBI’s. It wasn’t good enough to be the starting first baseman for the Cubs and hitting fourth. He certainly showed flashes while he was up, with his laser of a home run off the foul pole in Houston against the Astros being the top. But he didn’t live up to the hype last season.

The Cubs sent him back down to AAA in a developmental move to hopefully help him fix some kinks in his swing and get his confidence back. In the meantime, Cody Bellinger and Patrick Wisdom filled in at first base. I expected Mervis to get called back up to the Bigs at some point last season, but that call never came. Instead, the Cubs went out and traded for Jeimer Candelario. With him, Wisdom, and Bellinger all very capable first basemen, plus the Cubs believing they were in “win now” mode, Mervis never made a reappearance in the MLB last season. And it certainly wasn’t due to his poor performance in AAA, which never came. He slashed .282/.399/.533 with 22 home runs and 78 RBIs in Iowa last year. That, to any hitter at any level, is a very good line.

In spite of his good year in AAA, I feel like the Cubs have already given up on Mervis. For one, they acquired Michael Busch from the Dodgers this offseason. He is a very exciting, MLB ready prospect who can play pretty much anywhere in the infield. I think a lot of Cubs fans expected him to play third base consistently, adding a much more well-rounded talent there than Patrick Wisdom or Nick Madrigal. However, it appears that Busch has been practicing almost exclusively a first base this offseason. Plus, it sounds like Craig Counsell believes Christopher Morel has the chance to play third base every day for the Cubs, so it doesn’t look like Busch will get much time there.

On another note that knocks Mervis, Owen Cassie has been practicing at first base as well during Spring Training. He is the Cubs number 4 prospect and MLB’s number 68 prospect, so I feel as if the Cubs are preparing him to be able to paly first base for them in the future. Here’s what I foresee happening this season at the first and third base positions:

I believe that Michael Busch will be the so-called “starter” at first base, but that there will be a lot of rotation throughout the year. I think that Busch will start every game at first base against right-handed pitchers, as long as he is healthy, and Christopher Morel will start at third. Against right-handers, I see Counsell putting Wisdom at first due to his success against lefties and either keeping Morel or putting Madrigal at third. In both of those situations, the only way Mervis gets into the team is through the DH position.

At the DH, I could see Wisdom playing there consistently as well as Morel. I could also see Mike Tauchman in that role against righties (with PCA playing center) and Alexander Canario against lefties. I believe that all of those players will be on the Cubs Opening Day roster, depending on if there are anymore signings or not (please Cody Bellinger). With that being said, I don’t see a way Mervis gets back into this lineup. The left-handed hitting first baseman role has been taken by the Michael Busch acquisition, and I don’t see him starting at DH unless he proves himself early in that role.

Mervis was someone I was so excited about last year, and I still believe that he has the potential to be really good at the big-league level. Will that be for the Chicago Cubs? Tough to say, but the signs point towards the Cubs looking to trade him for a piece at the trade deadline this year. I think they will be hoping he continues to dominate in AAA to add value and potentially get a good return for him. This is all speculation, but that is just the way I see this going.