Cubs Season Report Card: Third Base |
We continue to work through the Cubs season report card series, as today is the final day of the infield positions, third base. This was the one area on the team that was a question mark going into the season, and six months later, it is still a question mark.
Even after the team acquired Isaac Paredes from the Tampa Bay Rays midseason, some questions surround whether he is the answer going forward or if he will also become trade bait. Regardless, this is an area to keep an eye on all offseason as the Cubs have to improve their roster in some aspect, and making a move at third could be one of the ways to improve this team. Here are our third base grades for the season.
When the 2024 season started, manager Craig Counsell made it a point that Christopher Morel would play every day. David Ross had a tough time making this decision in 2023, as his lack of a defensive position proved to be a liability issue many times. When you look at how this roster was constructed, the only position available for Morel to play is third base, and the Cubs would give him every opportunity to run with that job. There were times when he started to show the improvement you are looking for when a player switches to a new position, but there were also times when he was awful, leaving the Cubs with a difficult decision to leave him on the field or move him back to the DH role. Counsell made the decision in June when he ditched the third base experiment with Morel and moved him back to DH, as the Cubs needed his bat in the lineup more than his glove. He was eventually traded to the Rays as part of the Paredes deal, but before the trade, he was the Cubs' best power hitter. Morel played 103 games with the Cubs this season, nearly surpassing his career high of 113 in 2022. Despite a dismal .199 average, Morel continued to flash the power potential the Cubs fell in love with. When he was traded, he led the Cubs with 18 homers and finished with 51 RBIs, the type of production you look for in a middle-of-the-order bat. Season Grade C: Morel's season can be divided into two parts. The first part is his offensive performance, which would land around B or B-. Say what you want about the average, but Morel was a legitimate power-hitting threat who could change the game with one swing. His defense, however, was closer to an F as he could never adjust to third as quickly as the Cubs hoped.
Acquired as part of the Morel deal, Paredes was the answer at third the rest of the way, and the Cubs are hoping he is the answer for the next several seasons. One of the better hitters in the American League the past few seasons, Paredes, like Morel, had a difficult showing at the plate this season, especially after getting traded to the Northside. A career .232 hitter, Paredes was coming off a season where he hit a career-best .250 and was ranked in the top five regarding AL MVP voting. This season was much different; his average fell to .238, while his power numbers dipped to 19 homers and 80 RBIs. Those were his combined numbers between the Cubs and Rays, but his production with the Cubs was far worse. After being traded, Paredes played 52 games for the Cubs and hit only .223. He did that by connecting for three homers and driving in 25 as he settled into a nice groove late. If there were a positive to take away, it would be that he played much better defense than Morel and solved the Cubs' third base question for now. Season Grade C-: It is hard to grade Paredes based on his small sample size, but he could have performed better than the Cubs hoped. Sure, his defense was on point, and he did a phenomenal job at the hot corner, but offensively, it was a struggle as he was hitting below .200 for most of his stint with the Cubs. Paredes did start to turn things around over the final two weeks, but the lack of power was an issue and is something the team is hoping returns for next season.Christopher Morel
Isaac Paredes
