Chicago Cubs Give Interesting Prospect Another Shot After Demoting Veteran

The Chicago Cubs have some roster turnover with the promotion of an interesting prospect who has hit at the minor league level, but it hasn't quite translated to the MLB yet.

Jun 10, 2023; San Francisco, California, USA; Chicago Cubs first baseman Matt Mervis (22) / Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

During the offseason, the Chicago Cubs had a major hole at first base they needed to fill.

Throughout the winter, there was rumor after rumor about who they might target to come in and become the everyday player in that role.

Eventually they made a trade for Michael Busch and pushed their own rising prospect, Matt Mervis, back to the minors after he went 15-90 in his 27 games with the Cubs last year.

The deal has worked out great for Chicago so far as Busch is slashing .309/.385/.618 with a team-leading six homers and 15 RBI entering Tuesday.

But according to Tommy Birch of the Des Moines Register, Mervis is going to get another opportunity with the Cubs after they decided to call him up alongside pitcher Hayden Wesneski.

Mervis had quite a rise in Chicago's farm system, going from being undrafted in the five round 2020 MLB draft, to becoming their No. 7 overall prospect in 2023.

He climbed quickly through their pipeline, going straight from Single-A in his first professional season to finishing the year at Triple-A. He then started 2022 at the High Single-A level before making it to Triple-A again, appearing in 57 games.

The 26-year-old has been a very good hitter in the minors, posting a career slash line of .278/.372/.532 with 72 total homers, 157 extra-base hits, and 254 RBI all largely facing the highest level of farm competition.

The Cubs are hoping he can become much more comfortable in the Majors this time around as they are giving him another shot to show them what he can do after deciding to designate veteran Garrett Cooper for assignment according to Robert Murray of FanSided.

This decision comes at an interesting time considering Cooper has slashed .270/.371/.432 and is tied for eighth on the team with six RBI.

But, they also did sign the 33-year-old to a minor league contract this offseason and put him on the Opening Day roster following the injury to Patrick Wisdom.

Mervis provides Chicago with another left-handed bat and gives the intriguing prospect more time in the MLB to see if he can become someone who holds a roster spot going forward.