This looked a lot worse on video than when I first just saw the tweet about Madison Bumgarner beaning David Bote on the head during Sunday's spring training game. Bote left the game under his own power, but the video shows the Cubs infielder not looking too great.
I mean, he did just get hit on the head, but this was obviously not ideal.
At the start of spring training, Cubs manager Joe Maddon said the plan was to have Bote be the primary backup at shortstop to Javier Baez. After that it's pretty thin for the Cubs, as Addison Russell won't return until May, when the remainder of his 40-game suspension for violating MLB's domestic violence policy ends. Maddon gave an update on Bote and although it's supposed to be positive it didn't really come off that way.
Bote made his MLB debut with the Cubs last year and while he came through in a bunch of big spots at the plate, his versatile defense in the infield is what makes him a valuable bench player coming into the 2019 season. That update doesn't really bring fans much confidence, but it is less than 24 hours after Bote got hit. Hopefully Bote recovers and this doesn't become a bigger issue for him. This isn't a major problem yet, it's still February, but it does remind fans that the front office did very little to provide more depth at shortstop for 2019. They're really banking on Addison Russell, even with all of his problems, while they had the chance to get as good of a player for less money in José Iglesias. Anyway, let's hope Bote is OK.
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