I started writing about Nelson Velázquez, and yes at this point his chances of being in right field are a lot higher, but then Brennen Davis cranked an RBI-double to left field and Cubs fans got excited because what if BRENNEN DAVIS IS BACK?!?!!?
Davis, who came in late during Tuesday’s game, crushed a double over the left-fielder’s head in the ninth inning. It was just a great thing to see from him after his rough 2022 season. Over the years, Davis has had some bad injury luck, so let’s hope all that is behind him.
The Cubs are going to be without Seiya Suzuki for a while and if his left oblique strain does keep him out of action into the regular season, then someone else will have to step up and fill in for him in right field. Young, right-handed hitter Nelson Velázquez is one of the potential fill-ins for Suzuki in right field and he made some noise Tuesday, hitting a loud, two-run home run to the opposite-field gap against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Velázquez, who played in 77 games during his rookie season with the Cubs in 2022, jumped all over Tobias Myers’ fastball in his first-at bat against the Brewers and deposited the meatball into the crowd sitting in right-center field. Velázquez also hit a rocket to left field for a single in his second at bat, coming around to score later in the ninth inning on the Davis RBI-double.
Again, Velázquez is near the top of the list for the Cubs in terms of players most likely getting playing time in right field if Suzuki isn’t ready by Opening Day. Although the Cubs haven’t set a timetable for Suzuki we do know that he has withdrawn from this year’s World Baseball Classic and will not be playing for Japan in the international tournament. Japan’s first game in the WBC is scheduled for March 9, so with the Cubs’ decision that advised Suzuki, we know he’ll be shut down for at least couple weeks before he is reevaluated.
Players are different and no one recovers exactly the same, but we’ve seen previous timeframes for guys dealing with oblique strains, forcing them to miss 6-8 weeks.
At any rate, the Cubs will certainly be keeping a closer eye on guys like Velázquez in spring training to see if they’ve done enough to earn playing time in case Suzuki misses time to begin the regular season.
As far as Davis, I think he would have to go on a monster tear in spring training to make the Cubs leave camp with him on the Opening Day roster. After missing so much time in 2022, the team most likely wants Davis to get settled in back at Triple-A to begin the year. But I wouldn’t completely rule it out because Davis does have a lot of talent. It would certainly be fun if he did force the Cubs’ hand at the end of March.
Otherwise, the Cubs could also turn to Christopher Morel, maybe even Trey Mancini along with Velázquez for right field.
