Cubs Are Calling Up Another Stud from Triple-A

Folks, Christopher Morel is officially back with the Chicago Cubs!

ESPN's Jesse Rogers is reporting that the Cubs are calling up Morel before Monday night's series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals. The 23-year-old has been with the Iowa Cubs at Triple-A since the start of the season and not only has Morel been the best hitter on the team, he's been putting up the best numbers in professional baseball.

Less than 30 minutes before Rogers first reported that the Cubs are calling up Morel, there was a video going around Twitter of Morel in Chicago. And sure enough, he's back in the majors.

In 29 games this season at Triple-A, Morel slashed .330/.425/.730, with 11 home runs, 9 doubles, two triples, 31 RBI and 31 runs scored.

There still has not been official word from the team, but let's try to figure out who could be getting replaced, outside of injury of course.

So, Matt Mervis just came up and replaced Edwin Ríos on the active roster, with Eric Hosmer essentially taking over as the left-handed bench bat. So, I don't think Hosmer is all of a sudden going to be designated for assignment. With Morel up, the Cubs are getting another right-handed hitter and that's where you look at either Nick Madrigal or Nelson Velázquez.

Madrigal started a few games in a row for what seems like the first time in a while, this past weekend against the Miami Marlins. He had a good streak in the first few weeks of April and then slumped for a while, but the Cubs seem to love Madrigal's defense as the backup third baseman. That kind of only leaves Velázquez as the odd-man out, especially when you consider that he just has not been used much. It's almost a repeat situation of Ríos, who was on the bench, had spots he should have been used in, but simply wasn't as often as you would have thought.

And well, just as I was typing that, Rogers added that it is in fact Velázquez who will be sent back down to Triple-A.

Velázquez was called up for the second time in April heading into the San Diego Padres series at Wrigley Field and he started all three games in center field, filling in for Cody Bellinger, who was on paternity leave. However, since the calendar flipped to May, Velázquez has only gotten a total of nine at-bats.

And now it is official.

So, this is what I would like now that Morel is up. Under no scenario can he just be limited to a bench role. Patrick Wisdom was on fire in April and I love that he was, but we also know that as high as his highs are, the lows are very low. Give me Morel at third base 3-4 times a week and then mix him into the outfield, too. It is completely OK to either give your starting outfielders a day off once in a while, either completely, or just have them DH, while Morel's bat stays in the lineup.

Move Madrigal to a mostly bench role, and actually use him in pinch-hit situations where the team needs contact. And then yeah, give him a start at third once a week.

I'm hoping that's the case because it would just be a waste to call up Morel and then just bury him on the bench. Don't like that. Hate it very much. But just like when Mervis was called up, David Ross made it clear that the first baseman would be starting on a regular basis. Let's hope it's similar with Morel.