BCB After Dark: Making things right (field)

Welcome back to BCB After Dark: the hippest happening for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. Thank you ever so much for stopping by. I don’t know about where you live, but it’s nothing but wet where we are. So come on in and get warm and dry. Let us take your coat for you. Or your umbrella. There are still a few good tables available. Bring your own beverage.

BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon.

Last evening, I asked you if you thought new Cub Edwin Ríos would make the Cubs Opening Day roster. By a margin of 63 to 37 percent, you think Ríos will not be one of the 26 players going north with the team at the end of Spring Training.

Here’s the part where I talk about jazz and movies. You’re free to skip ahead to the baseball question at the end. You won’t hurt my feelings.

Tonight we have as our musical accompaniment a performance of Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb” by the Bad Plus with vocalist Wendy Lewis. This performance appears to be from 2012. Back then, the Bad Plus were Ethan Iverson on piano, David King on drums and Reid Anderson on bass.

Because I know you all like the jazz versions of classic rock songs. Hey, it’s a gateway drug to jazz as far as I’m concerned.

You still have until Wednesday evening to vote in the finals of the BCB Winter Noir Classic. The number-one and number-two seeds in the tourney advanced to the finals and you can vote for your favorite between The Maltese Falcon (1941) and Double Indemnity (1944).

Welcome back to everyone who skips the music and movies.

Tonight’s question deals with the bad news that we received earlier today when right fielder Seiya Suzuki was diagnosed with a “moderate” oblique strain. There’s no timetable for Suzuki’s return as oblique injuries are tricky things. He could be back for Opening Day (although that is extremely unlikely) or he could miss half the season. (Again, very unlikely.) As someone who is neither a doctor nor stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night, my guess is that Suzuki will probably miss the first three or four weeks of the season. Suzuki has expressed that he doesn’t want to push his return, feeling that doing so last season affected him negatively for a lot longer than just taking more recovery time would have.

So the Cubs are going to need a new right fielder for Opening Day and from all accounts, it appears that will be Trey Mancini. Mancini has 100 major league games in right field and came up through the minors as one, but he’s played mostly first base since missing the 2020 season after cancer surgery. Still, he did play 31 games in the outfield last year and 11 of them were in right.

But there are other candidates to play out there as well, as Jordan Bastian outlines here. I’m not going to ask you who will be the right fielder while Suzuki is out because I don’t think that’s as fun as asking you who should be the right fielder while Suzuki is out.

So put on David Ross’s cap for a while. If you were managing the Cubs would would you give the most time in right field to start the season. Sure, both you and Ross are probably going to play some matchups and more than one player will get time out there, but who would you play the most out there?

Bastian lists candidates. The favorites are veterans Mancini and Patrick Wisdom, which would then open up some playing time at third base for someone else. The Cubs also signed two outfielders to minor league deals with a non-roster invitation to Spring Training for just such an emergency as this one: Mike Tauchman and Ben DeLuzio.

Then there are the younger, second-year players who should be in contention for the job: Christopher Morel and Nelson Velázquez. Finally, and David Ross is unlikely to consider him, but that doesn’t mean you can’t. Would you put top prospect Brennen Davis out there to start the year?

So who would you give the most time in right field while Seiya Suzuki is out?

Thank you so much for stopping by this evening. I hope we helped you get in the mood for the baseball season. Or whatever you’re looking forward to. Please get home safely. Stay dry. Tip your waitstaff. And join us again tomorrow for more BCB After Dark.