David Ross is Pissing Me Off

Actually, let me start off this rant with the Cubs organization overall. Nico Hoerner tweaked his hamstring Monday night, running to third base on Dansby Swanson's double. He was taken out and on Tuesday the Cubs said they don't think Hoerner will need a stint on the injured list. However, Hoerner isn't in the starting lineup for the middle game of their series against the St. Louis Cardinals and the Cubs are calling it a mild hamstring string.

It would obviously suck for the Cubs to lose Hoerner for the next 10 days, but as we've seen with this team before, these type of injuries can continue to nag a player and then you're in a situation where you're playing games without a full roster because that one player still doesn't feel good enough to play, but you don't put him on the injured list.

Like, c'mon, why push it here.

Fine, hoping for the best. The Cubs have Thursday off after wrapping up their series against the Cardinals. Maybe Hoerner will be fine by Friday.

All right, so Hoerner is out today and the Cubs need a new leadoff hitter, probably for the next couple of games. You know who shouldn't be leading off? Nick Madrigal. Why? He's been really bad this season and especially poor at the plate the last few weeks.

That 70 wRC+ may mean nothing to you, but just know that Madrigal has been 30 percent worse producing offensive value than the average hitter. By the way, Madrigal has a .292 OBP heading into Tuesday night's game.

So yeah, a guy who has been slumping and hasn't gotten on base shouldn't be leading off. Well, fuck us, huh.

Patrick Wisdom has also been slumping for a few weeks now, so I don't mind that he's out of the lineup. I don't mind that Madrigal is starting, but why the hell would you put him at the top of the order?

I know that there has been a constant debate surrounding Madrigal since the Cubs acquired him in 2021, but this dude simply has not been good. He doesn't hit the ball hard, he has no power and the luck is running out.

I'm starting to think that the wrong guy was sent down to Triple-A on Monday, when the Cubs called up Christopher Morel.

Also, why is Eric Hosmer hitting sixth?

I know that Matt Mervis hasn't been on fire since making his MLB debut on Friday, but it's OK to move up your rookies in the lineup. Same goes with Morel, who's batting eighth in his first game of the season.

At least Miguel Amaya is back in the starting lineup. He is most likely going back to the minors once Yan Gomes is back from the concussion injured list, but you love to see Cubs players already praising Amaya, who has been up for less than a week in the majors.

You know, the Cubs could keep Amaya around. It's not like Tucker Barnhart is doing much. But I get it, veteran guy, pitchers like Barnhart, too. Fine.