Patrick Wisdom

One glance at the Estimated Time of Arrival column here provides a lens into the Cubs timeline, or at least their next big wave of hitters. It s a promising group, and bah gawd it better be, given the club s firesale focused on these teenage, back-to-the-future lottery tickets. I m not calling them yellow, but we all saw them from the fight in 2021 like Marty McFly after the time jump, and the rewards for doing so look bountiful at the moment. But it s not all about a half-decade from now. To their credit, the club has a middle infield combo ready to roll in the superhero team of Punch and Judy. I m not sure which is Nick Madrigal and which is Nico Hoerner, but I do think the club would be thrilled to get ten total home runs from the pair, which could combine with 3B Patrick Wisdom, 1B Frank Schwindel and C Willson Contreras to create a passable big league infield. Add that to outfielders Ian Happ, Rafael Ortega, Jason Heyward and (eventually) Brennen Davis and the team looks like a rebuilder. Sorry, I meant to say contender there, I think, or something more than rebuilder because you really can squint and see the start of something above the Mendoza line here. It takes a lot of wishful thinking to see much more than that, but they do have an interesting group at the top level, at least on the position-player side, and their minor league system is the deepest of the six I ve ranked so far, so as the team s most famous fan might say, they ve got that going for them.

The Cubs have placed right-hander Tommy Nance on the injury list, which seems to hint at a COVID-related absence given the lack of a reason given for Nance’s placement. Taking Nance’s spot is righty Joe Biagini, whose contract was selected from Triple-A Iowa. Patrick Wisdom, Austin Romine, David Bote, and Nick Martini have also been…

The Cubs have placed right-hander Tommy Nance on the COVID-related injury list. Taking Nance’s spot is righty Joe Biagini, whose contract was selected from Triple-A Iowa. Patrick Wisdom, Austin Romine, David Bote, and Nick Martini have also been placed on Chicago’s COVID list within the last three days, as the Cubs have apparently been hit…