Christopher Morel hurting or helping the Chicago Cubs?

Christopher Morel hurting or helping the Chicago Cubs?

we talk about the failed Christopher Morell experiment or is it a failure next you are locked on Cubs your daily Chicago Cubs podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day you are locked on Cubs part of the lock on podcast Network your team every day alongside Sam olber I’m Matt cozy Sam and I lifelong fans taking our passion into discussion with you on all things Cubs thank you for being part of the show and making lock on Cubs your first listen today and the best way you can help us grow the show is to listen every day like the video and comment anything below even during Allstar week today’s episode is presented by our great Partners at booking.com booking doe the right stay can make you a fan of any City even your Rivals check out booking.com for your stay today and as we record were inside two hours from the Home Run Derby about 24 plus hours from the allstar game Sam it’s uh quite a time of year in baseball with these two great events so many great memories with these events no I wanted to say this really briefly before we get into our show I am so fed up about what they’ve done to the Home Run Derby you you look at the old footage of o2 SOA Miller Park the anticipation of every pitch will he take it will he swing at it how far will it go and then he hits a 520 foot home run and we get to admire it and enjoy it and the crowd gets to have a standing ovation that’s what baseball’s about baseball isn’t about a time limit and what they’ve done to this Derby they’ made it a stamina contest a timing contest we can’t even enjoy how far a ball goes because the minute you see it the next pitch is coming that’s not baseball baseball shouldn’t be played like that and I don’t like that they did it if Aaron judge and Sh Otani and those guys can’t do a 10out format then do a different event let’s get into the program the camera can’t even keep up with it it’s it’s it’s it’s exactly what I did like why I love baseball that’s the opposite now let’s talk about Christopher Morell well as we sit here at the All-Star break Sam we have an opportunity to evaluate individual Seasons so far and the one we want to perhaps most of all eval is Christopher Morell who is log time at both third base and designated hitter for the Cubs in 2024 Morell is slashing 202 303 387 with 18 home runs and 50 runs batted in in 96 games at third base Morel ranks last in all of baseball with a negative eight defensive runs saved Sam it is talk it’s time to talk about Morell I do believe yeah and you know I I made I I tweeted out on Saturday about the failed experim and he hits his two home runs on Sunday so everyone Aggregates it and makes fun of me and ha uh but look the morel thing here’s the thing with the Cubs okay the Cubs had this idea I call it like the two timeline strategy where they wanted to compete and win now and they also wanted to develop young Talent at the same time and that is possible to do but in order to do that you have to have guys that have Superstar like production right you know Gavin Lux for example’s really struggled this year with the Dodgers but you know and Bets is whatever but you know when you have Otani in there and Freeman in there you could overcome those type of things the Cubs weren’t topheavy enough they weren’t talented enough to be able to make up for uh for lack of a better term black holes in their lineup and guys that that can’t defend and Christopher Morell has just been a really good example of that early in the season the trends were good the numbers were bad the trends were good he was walking more he was whiffing less I never thought he would fit at third base so I don’t even think there’s a point in even talking about that it just isn’t it isn’t there and the Cubs of albeit too late have adjusted to that but now the trends aren’t as good the strikeouts are back up uh you know the hard hit rate’s good but you know Morel just seems like one of those guys where you know he’s just gonna he’s there to hit home runs he’s there to hit the ball hard he’s never goingon to be a really good clutch hitter because he doesn’t go the opposite way and I’m not giving up on him whatsoever and the Cubs now have to be more bought into him than ever cu because you don’t want to trade somebody that doesn’t have the value that they should and I think the goal for somebody like Christopher Morell is to be an explosive bat I look at a guy like ad dois adolis Garcia on the Rangers or you know somebody like you know that could hit 35 to 40 home runs get the batting average up to at least like 230 uh have that Ops sitting in the in the low to mid eights but right now with Christopher Morell and I said this yesterday um it reminds me a lot of Justin fields in this sense the flashes are there the flashes jump off the screen the the intangibles the arm strength the power he looks like he looks like he could be a stud but the production’s that that the day-to-day production hasn’t been there and it’s different than somebody like PCA because PCA is 21 years old Christopher morel’s 25 it’s different it’s a different timeline and like the great Lewis rck who works for ESPN as a football analyst uh said uh regarding Justin Fields flashes can get you fired because you fall in love with those flashes but at some point there needs to be production behind it I’m not giving up on Christopher Morell but it’s just been really disappointing and I think he’s really hurt the Cub so far this season wow well I really like that comp and and even the the Lewis ridic quote to to back that up as well because I think about Morel as someone that the Cubs really invested in this year from day one and I am going to talk a little bit about him at third because uh it really has mattered and it has mattered in a in a negative way um you know I I was pretty hot over the weekend about this guy I even floated out at one time to you about about demoting him to to begin the second half of the season this Friday and while I I have examples of of Kyle schwarber in 2017 and Ian hap in 2019 you’re right about the timeline because for hap in 19 it was to begin the year for schwarber in 17 it was like a month into the year and right now we’re 98 games in so I’m not really sure what sending him to De Mo would do um my biggest frustration with Morell is that he is not making adjustments at the play he’s not and I don’t know and it’s not my job to know whether that’s him uh failing to make an adjustment him not wanting to or him not knowing how to but he had has all the physical traits that you would want to see in a player and it’s unfortunate how he has been uh hurting the team as it is especially at third and since he has been so bad at third Sam morell’s value this year according to Fan graphs is zero yep he is a zero win player right now literally 0.0 and 18 home home runs I get it that looks good on the baseball card right now but are these Trends or some indicators of success actually going to prove to be true because you can even make a bad luck case with this dude sure his his batting average on balls and play It’s Only Make as a case with me too what you could make it as a case with me too it’s only like 20 point higher than than his real average right that’s almost unheard of and so that would indicate some bad luck but for to be 98 games in and have that um you start looking into it looking into it a little bit more um you know there there would be some evidence maybe with that to to to say that a morel surge might be in there like if he hits five homers in the first two series out of the break type of thing um but I I just don’t know and he’s become a a full-time designated hitter again uh which um at least in this last 11 games has actually helped the Cubs and we can get to that in this segment as well but it’s all over the place with this guy he truly is a puzzle piece well I think he’s he’s I think he’s a firm part of the Cubs Enigma Club you know along with wisneski sometimes Suzuki and you know I I’ll say this about Morel I my concern about Morell in the future is can he figure out a place to play and and he shouldn’t H and and let me let me say this he shouldn’t be rewarded with second base because that’s his best position in and the Cubs trade niiko Warner for Morel he’s not a good he hasn’t shown that he’s a good enough offensive player I agree to Warrant that so I’m not I haven’t given up on the bat yet I think my point th this conversation for me is not about 25 and Beyond it’s about that okay we’re sitting at the All-Star break it’s time to reflect why are the Cubs four games under and there’s a lot of reasons why and Christopher Morell is one of them right now yeah you’re not gonna move Herer a second time he’s already moved once uh Ian hap is a left fielder in left SE Suzuki is a left fielder in right we know Morell can’t play center bush has been good at first so there’s no place to put him and during this current 8 and3 stretch since July 4th Mela started at third one time and it was when sha pitched who was a known Fly ball pitcher um you know Mastro really has been solid against righty Sam and you know I hope Sunday could be the start of a turnaround for Morell then the Cubs offense will be even more uh potent but I think Mastro is the pretty much the everyday guy at third and that’s yeah wild to say right now against righties and bod lefties for sure yeah and and morell’s back to being a DH we’ll see what happens when talkman comes back or Bellinger right now that they can afford to do that because Bellinger and talkman are out so they have they have three guys to play Outfield you know what I mean so we’ll see what happens maybe if Morell doesn’t turn around he he might start to lose at bats as well wow so he would actually become in essence a part-time player at that point point and talkman might be back as soon as Friday so that can get really interesting in a hurry and I think with Morel that’s one of the things that people don’t realize as much do you know how many games I’m pulling it up right now just so I’m I’m I’m you know know I’m not making it up uh but can you do you want to take a guess how many games he played in last year total last year yeah uh a lot I would I’m gonna say 132 incorrect he only he only played in 96 games last year wow the year before that 107 the year before that 113 so Christopher Morell has never been asked to be an everyday player until this year and that and that and that really changes things and you know he might be one of those guys that that’s just better off playing three four times a week and and you know you you put him in based on matchup and things like that like that was another thing with Morell that concerned me heading into the years he’s he’s never he’s never been asked to play 140 baseball games you know well with talkman and Bellinger available then I I definitely think that happens right and it’s just like it’s just different it’s a lot easier Joe man used to always talk about that hey why doesn’t so and so play more he’s hitting well right now guys because he’s playing in spots that work out for him it’s different when you ask him to play every day it’s just different it’s a it’s a you know being a a really good everyday Major League player is one of the hardest things to do in the world uh Mastro hitting so a couple other notes Here by the way over at the hot corner and such uh Mastro hitting 286 during this eight and3 stretch David bod and Patrick wisdom each have only 10 plate appearances in this stretch but bod has played in Eight Games to wisdoms three because bod is he he’s a closer at third he finished all those games at third did you know bod’s hitting 353 he’s been really good albe itting 34 at since he was called up but that’s he looks good that’s great good he takes the ball to what part of the field um whatever what whatever rhymes with with toos it Opposite field it’s it’s like he he’s just a pro it’s amazing what happens right field you know you know who else know who else was really good going to right field Derek Jeter wisdom is not made have started a defensive position since June 21st I like that and I didn’t realized this till doing some homework today in 92 at bats this year he’s only hitting 196 with four homers I realize it he might not be long for this club and most of his and most of his AVS come against lefties no but seriously if toan’s ready on Friday wisdom goes down he has to has to well no it’ be Canario oh that’s right it’d be Canario and then the next guy and then Bellinger coming back would be wisdom I see yeah and by the way who says that that Canario shouldn’t get wisdom’s role right which is so limited right now anyways but yeah why not right this is a long segment coming up next uh the Cubs still might trade for a catcher despite getting a new one only recently stay tuned this episode is brought to you by FanDuel I love sports I love them so much I never 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they already made a move they released Yan Gomes they signed Tomas Neato who was hitting 192 with the Cubs but has graded out well defensively so far Miguel layia meanwhile is still mediocre on defense as we have all seen but is five for his last 12 maybe that’s something there remember Amaya cannot be sent to Triple A without his permission he is out of options after being placed on the four man roster way back in November of 2019 when he was first eligible for the rule five draft so the Cubs have two catchers they seem to be going nowhere although we could talk maybe about the needle part of it in a minute Bob Nale reported Sunday the Cubs have expressed interest in Blue Jays catcher Danny Jansen who is a rental player and the Blue Jays have completely nose dived uh in the standings last week John hayon reported that Cubs continued interest in Rocky’s catcher Elias Diaz who was first connected the Cubs way back in in uh May so uh Diaz hitting much better than Jansen Sam actually he’s having Diaz is a career year offensively grades out really well defensively uh Jansen has struggled mightily at the plate recently and is also similar metrics and thrown out the same number of guys as Amaya which is just a handful uh this year this surprised me I didn’t think the Cubs were still looking for a catcher yeah me too uh I you know Maya had a really nice couple of days uh and and and actually Neo I think back-to-back days they homered yeah you know if Amaya could just get to the level offensively where he’s just not an automatic out I think it’s probably a decent it’s decent enough but you know it I think it’s so interesting right it’s this it’s this double-edged sword of buying and selling if the Cubs can win four of six or five of six to start the break and they want a DFA Neato and then you know trade a you know you’re not it’s not gonna it’s not going to cost a lot for these guys uh because the rental players as you mentioned then you know all right let’s go for it let’s get better but you know do you want to make that move before if you make it before you give yourself a better chance to win four or five out of six but you know what I mean it’s this it’s that cat Mouse of of of this situation I mean I also would argue I’m a little bit upset um because if the Cubs wanted a catcher that that was better than this why didn’t they go do this earlier I can May yeah because okay I I understand the Jansen thing because Toronto wasn’t selling but how about Colorado I mean they’ve been selling since before the season started well they have two rentals you could also bring up Jacob Stallings if you these guys wouldn’t cost much they could have done this earlier and that’s where I agree with with Kaplan and I disagree with Jed where it’s like no trades happen so so you pay 120 cents on the dollar for a guy like Diaz who cares what’s that going to cost you you know if you really he would be a big Improvement at that position he would you know Le let’s just put it like this if you make that deal forget May let’s say you make the deal June 8th you might have one more win two more wins maybe one even if you had one more win right now just one yeah that’s a big difference yeah Ching to my surprise doesn’t excite me as much as I thought no idea he was hitting that badly right and but some other players on the Blue Jays excite me um but I I don’t think Ross Atkins would would do it uh from his perch as president of that team I guess my question is like who’s the starting catcher in 2025 it’s a great question that’s the bigger problem yeah right and right now the answer is Miguel Amaya right it’s not Tomas Neo no is it by esteros well you know as as uh Michael Camy said when he was on the bias Aros thing is probably maybe the most exciting thing happening in the oric because the guy has an unbelievable hit tool and it just you can’t mess around with the catcher position at this level no and so until he’s fully there if he even if he is a half DH half catcher with his Bat I mean the guy the kid’s only 20 uh but I don’t think it’s I don’t think it’s him at the catcher position quite yet no and there’s room this week to talk trades again the Cubs are in such a weird spot right now I would love to give you a list of relief targets but folks I did I did that in December no we’re not there yet I did that in December and Jed uh he did do something he signed NYS but uh yeah we’re just not there yet I’ll tell you this I’ll tell you this tell you this you and I will be in Michigan this weekend for a wedding all right we come back we win that series we beat Milwaukee two out of three that episode you can give me a relief list okay because that would be four out of six four four out of six yeah yeah get back within two of 500 let’s do a relief list sounds good and we’ll be doing more of the standings and and second half stuff later this week too um because as of right now what do you what number of wins do you think gets the third spot is it 84 is it 84 again for the Chicago Cubs then the Cubs would have to go 37 and 27 the rest of the way well that yeah which actually doesn’t sound that daunting but it’s not uh but but let me tell you this for the Cubs whatever win it is it’s one more because they don’t have the tiebreaker with anyone oh so it’s 85 so I would say I no I think it’s I I like the Padres I don’t understand they could hit like they could they could get to 88 wins I think it’s 85 86 is what it’s going to take right than I think the if you want to asked me yeah I think 3940 more wins yeah and that’s a healthy number yeah it’s going to be tough but the cup schedule is also very easy it to themselves down the stretch except when they have to go to shavah Ravine in September oh interesting outside of that it’s not that bad it eases up in September outside of three games oh in August too it’s I mean it’s yeah we’ll talk yeah we’ll talk about that no we’ll do that then later they have one of the easier remaining schedules record-wise in all the land well that’s good is it com yeah coming up next go the Cubs first round pick MLB draft started Sunday we’ll tell you who it is we’re brought to you by booking.com booking doe with Summer travel heating up especially travel for baseball games it’s time to explore those US cities you always secretly wanted to learn more about yes we’re talking about your rival cities with hotels betting breakfast vacation rentals Resorts and so much more on booking.com you might just find your perfect stay even in your baseball rival City from hotels that look over stadiums to familyfriendly Resorts booking.com is so many choices across the US for your summer summer travel this MLB season the right State can make you a fan of any US city even your Rivals uh Sam do you know if the Cubs are still have a trip to Pittsburgh this season that would be a great spot for folks they absolutely do it’s mid August uh that would that would be that’s a fantastic Stadium I’ve been there mple times that’d be a great trip to book and you can do that with booking.com you can book today on booking.com on the website or in the app booking.com bing. with a 14th overall pick in the MLB draft on Sunday the Cub selected Florida State third basem cam Smith yes smith/ 387 488 654 with 16 homers this season and the prospect uh people have said that he had a breakout season this year uh including dropping his strikeout rate Sam from 28.7 in 2023 to 14.9 this spring 10 rounds are in the books uh with the draft right now final 10 rounds will be on Tuesday the C did not draft a pitcher until the sixth round and have taken eight position players out of their 10 selections so far that’s been your draft report do you see my do you see my batting stance nice uh I like this kid w t tulsy you know he’s a he’s a he’s a big kid so I don’t know if he’ll be able to stick at third base but you know you know you’re not drafting that you’re drafting the you know I’m sure they wanted the best B available and they probably feel like they got them you know I I I can’t really speak on it more than that but I I I like the kid I like the bat potential I mean one thing about Jed Hoyer there there’s two things about Jed Hoyer that he’s really good at he’s really good at making trades for the most part you know he has his bad ones but he’s pretty good overall and his first round pick history is pretty good I mean Wicks Wicks I really like you know hopefully he can get healthy um Matt Shaw’s just sorted up the the the rankings I think I miss one in there as well but um you know I Jed Hoyer could draft a little bit and he could you know he could trade a little bit so I’m excited about this and uh you know Cubs ne ne bats man well one of those trades he made I’d like to further discuss this week Michael Bush uh how he’s had a nice campaign uh we’re gonna get to Allstar Home Run Derby memories this week what where are the Cubs at in terms of win loss to begin the second half with other teams for the third wild card what do they need to do coming out of the break and things like that the Marquee deal is supposed to expire in September that’s a huge story we gonna poke around this week as well forgot about Kate Horton by the way it’s kind of embarrassing yeah so they’ve gone the last three drafts Wicks to Horton Shaw yep now Smith so I’d say I’d say you feel pretty good about all those picks right now yes and uh hopefully we see Kate Horton throw baseball sometime later this month uh thank you so much for checking out this edition of lock on Cubs you give us 20 to 30 minutes we’ll give you all things Cubs with the laugh or two along the way be sure to hit subscribe on YouTube smash the like button for the algorithm and leave a festar review on Apple Spotify and everywhere you get your podcast for Sam olber I’m Matt cozy this is locked on Cubs

Christopher Morel is batting .202 with 18 homers while struggling mightily at third base so far this season. Is Morel helping or hurting the Cubs? Plus: The Cubs still could trade for a catcher and the MLB Draft begins.

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