Opening Day is a week away and the Chicago Cubs still have a lot of players in camp. However, they did make some roster cuts down in spring training on Thursday that includes Matt Mervis among the 10 players who won't be making the team's 26-man roster to begin the regular season.
You'll recognize a few other names on this list, most noticeably David Bote and Nelson Velázquez who were on the team last year. Infielder Sergio Alcántara, outfielder Ben DeLuzio and catcher Dom Nuñez were also reassigned to minor league camp. On the pitching side, right-handers Manny Rodriguez, Cam Sanders, Nick Burdi and lefty Brendon Little.
The Cubs still have to make 15 more cuts before heading back to Chicago for Opening Day as the current roster stands at 41 players.
With Mervis, fans never really thought he'd have a strong shot at making the team out of spring training after some of the late offseason moves made by the front office in free agency. Trey Mancini and Eric Hosmer will handle most of the playing time at first base to begin the season and then the roster will most likely also have Patrick Wisdom and Edwin Rios, who have both played first base in their careers.
However, it's also easy to see Mervis continue to mash the ball at Triple-A and if Hosmer struggles through the first month or so, then the Cubs ultimately get rid of Hosmer to make room for Mervis.
As for Bote, he just goes to show that spring training performance just does not matter for some guys. We could have predicted Bote not making the team no matter his results during Cactus League games going back to November, when he was out-righted off the Cubs 40-man roster. Bote is 10-for-28, with a home run in spring training.
Still, like I wrote recently, I hope the final bench spots do go to guys that have earned it and are showing something on the field and at the plate. As you may have noticed, left-handed hitter Zach McKinstry is still hanging around despite his atrocious spring.
So, along with Mervis, I definitely think right-handed pitcher Cam Sanders will eventually make his way to Wrigley Field this year and make his MLB debut with the Cubs. He's back to being a reliever full time and he might be one of the first few pitchers to get called up when an injury pops up in the regular season in the bullpen.
I'd also keep an eye on Nick Burdi. He's had a long history of injuries, but he looked healthy and absolutely nasty at times during spring training. The right-handed pitcher has been hitting triple digits on the radar gun and he's been snapping off some filthy sliders. I think he'll get a shot at some point with the Cubs this year if he remains healthy.
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