The Chicago Cubs won their first series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on the road for the first time since 2014 after holding on for a 3-2 victory on Sunday. The Cubs were about a foot away from sweeping the Dodgers, after David Peralta snuck a base hit past Nico Hoerner on Saturday night for a walk-off, two-run single. But hey, at 8-6, with solid pitching and some power hitting in LA, the Cubs are feeling good heading into their series against the Oakland A’s on Monday.

Now, with all that being said, the Cubs are also getting by the first couple of weeks with a couple black holes in their starting lineup and although the catchers were the main concern heading into the season, I’m not talking about them, though the production has been slightly below league average. Anyway, we’re talking about first base and designated hitter, which should be two spots in the lineup that provide above league average production at the plate.

Sadly, the two historically slugging positions, have been anything but that for the Cubs so far in 2023.

Cubs Position wRC+ Through 14 Games

You don’t really need to know the formula for wRC+. Just know that 100 represents an average hitter.

Here are the starting position players and how they’ve performed overall with the Cubs through two weeks of games and how they rank in MLB.

Catcher: 85 wRC+ (14th in MLB)
First Base: 53 wRC+ (26th in MLB)
Second Base: 110 wRC+ (11th in MLB)
Shortstop: 134 wRC+ (8th in MLB)
Third Base: 143 wRC+ (5th in MLB)
Right Field: 96 wRC+ (t-13th in MLB)
Center Field: 104 wRC+ (t-16th in MLB)
Left Field: 162 wRC+ (3rd in MLB)
Designated Hitter: 56 wRC+ (27th in MLB)

Left-handed hitter Edwin Ríos and right-handed hitting catcher Luis Torrens have started half the games at designated hitter for the Cubs. Ríos hasn’t done much, going 1-for-12, with two walks and five strikeouts starting at DH, while Torrens is 2-for-8 with four strikeouts as a starter. If those two continue to struggle, then you could easily see one of them get replaced on the roster.

But those two are bench players. Let’s talk about the other two veteran hitters the Cubs signed this offseason to cover first base and the DH spot.

Trey Mancini: 55 PA, .216/.241/.275, 37 wRC+
Eric Hosmer: 44 PA, .250/.318/.300, 73 wRC+

So, it’s pretty obvious, right? Just dump Mancini. Well, as always, you gotta follow the money.

The Cubs signed Mancini to a two-year deal that also includes an opt out for 2024. Mancini is guaranteed to make $7 million. The Cubs signed Hosmer to the league minimum after the Boston Red Sox let him go in the offseason and the San Diego Padres are pretty much paying the remainder of his eight-year contract that he signed back in 2018 for $144 million.

While Hosmer has made two highlight reel plays at first, neither he or Mancini have been particularly good on defense at first base so far in 2023 with the Cubs.

I get it, it’s been 14 games, but it’s not like there isn’t a dude knocking down the door at Triple-A either who has the potential to make the Cubs better.

I guess there is a scenario where the Cubs send Ríos down to Triple-A and Hosmer becomes the left-handed bench bat when the team finally calls up Matt Mervis, but I can safely say that Mancini isn’t going anywhere once the 1B/DH spot is addressed. Any team is going to give the guy they’re paying $7 million a longer runway to succeed than the guy making the league minimum.

Regardless of who is booted off the team, hopefully we see Mervis starting at first base sooner rather than later.