Why is the Cubs bench like this?

So, I wrote this whole newsletter about how the Cubs bench sucks and if Ian Happ has already missed four games and is dealing with an oblique injury that they should suck it up and put him on the injured list and bring up Moises Ballesteros to DH.

And then the Cubs beat the Marlins 5-2.

And then they put Ian Happ on the IL and called up Moises Ballesteros.

Well, shit.

Good!

Nobody has any idea if Ballesteros has any ability to play any position in the big leagues, but he could fall out of the bus from Iowa tonight and get two hits.

So, if nothing else, this is going to be fun.

And, isn't that really the point?

I got a kick out of Bleacher Nation giving Jed credit for "not messing around" and making this "bold move." As you read through this newsletter at the other options, there really weren't any. It's easy to be "bold" when there are no other choices. Plus, if they were really "bold" this would have happened on Sunday. Anyway, it did happen, eventually. So I guess that's something.

Last night the Cubs started both of their catchers in the starting lineup. Given that Carson Kelly and Miguel Amaya are both productive hitters, it made sense. Ian Happ is still not on the injured list with his "day to day" oblique injury, so Seiya Suzuki is playing left field and that leaves the DH spot wide open. Over the weekend in New York, the desiccating corpse of Justin Turner tried and failed repeatedly to designated "hit."

No roster move was needed because Happ was fine, he just needed a day or two, and Turner's a career .284 hitter. Why wouldn't you want him in the lineup for a few days?

Well, first off, the Cubs came home to play the Marlins last night and Happ was still out. I get that some injuries are hard to diagnose, but the injured list is just 10 days. Happ's already missed four games. If he comes back tonight it's unlikely that he's 100% and obliques are really easy to re-injure. Just ask Javier Assad. Wouldn't the smart thing have been that when it was clear the injury wasn't just something that he needed a day to rest, to have put him on the IL, give him time to recover and actually add a real hitter to the team instead of propping up a 40 year old who has played in 24 games and has nine hits?

Wait, that can't be right. Nine hits? Matt Shaw played in fewer games and had 10 hits and it got him sent to the cornfields.

Turner looks completely cooked at the plate. Of his nine hits only three have left the infield.

One appears to be completely missing. Is it underground?

On the season, Turner is "slashing" .155/.241/.155. And honestly, I don't think he's the worst player on the bench. Nicky Lopez only has one hit and it didn't leave the infield either. Vidal Brujan has a whopping two. One of them was a double so he's easily the most productive of the three.

On Saturday, the Cubs promoted their best pitching prospect in two decades (not an exaggeration) and had to do a little 40-man roster maneuvering to do it. But it wasn't hard. Nobody gives a shit when Eli Morgan comes back (or if he ever comes back) from his impinged elbow, so they put him on the 60-day IL, which opened a spot for Cade Horton.

Shouldn't the Cubs have also promoted a hitter? Either to DH or to just be a better bench option than any of those three stooges?

If Happ's not back tonight, they really need to suck it up and IL him and bring somebody up to DH. I don't even care who.

But my preference would be Moises Ballesteros, who is hitting .368/.420/.522 at Iowa with four homers and 18 RBI. He'd give you an extra left handed bat, and if you didn't want to start him against a lefty you could DH Carson Kelly without fear of an injury to Amaya leaving you DH-less if Kelly had to come into the game.

It's a win-win!