At this point Cubs fans don’t know how long right fielder Seiya Suzuki will be out of action, but it is safe to assume that he will not be on the Opening Day roster and will most likely miss at least a few weeks to begin the regular season. Suzuki’s oblique strain has opened the door for a few players to make the team out of spring training and that includes Miles Mastrobuoni.
The Cubs acquired Mastrobuoni from the Tampa Bay Rays, trading right-handed pitcher Alfredo Zárraga for him early in the offseason. It was a curious move by the Cubs, adding another infielder to the already crowded position group on the roster, but maybe it’s the outfield where Mastrobuoni can become more valuable for this team.
The front office obviously likes Mastrobuoni because making a trade with the Rays has proved to be a risky move for teams over the years. Mastrobuoni also has a slight advantage over a few of the other fringe guys competing for a bench spot this spring, as he’s already on the Cubs 40-man roster. David Ross and Mike Tauchman are not, which means if the Cubs do pick one of them to make the Opening Day roster, then they have to get rid of someone else on the 40-man.
In 2022, Mastrobuoni spent almost the entire year playing at Triple-A in the Rays system. The left-handed batter slashed .300/.377/.469, in 129 games. There was one huge change in his offense, though, as Mastrobuoni clubbed 16 home runs last season in 507 at-bats. Prior to that, he hit 13 total home runs in his first 1,704 at-bats in the minor leagues. The power surge has slowly been coming around, but it did start back in 2021, when Mastrobuoni slugged .424, the first time it was above .400 in his pro career that began in 2016.
But there is the question whether Mastrobuoni can handle outfield duties. He’s mostly started at second base, shortstop and third base in the minors, however, the Cubs have to love his versatility because Mastrobuoni has started more than 200 games in the outfield. Last year, 52 of his starts were at one of the three outfield positions, including 22 in right field.
Before joining Italy for this year’s World Baseball Classic, Mastrobuoni played in a few games for the Cubs in spring training. While he didn’t start in the outfield, he did log four innings in left field.
Speaking of the World Baseball Classic, Italy had its first game of the tournament on Thursday and Mastrobuoni was in the starting lineup, playing second base, batting ninth. He went 2-for-4, both of his hits being doubles. The first was against left-hander Roenis Elías, who only surrendered two hits in five innings. Elías is also competing for a spot on the Cubs this spring.
Mastrobuoni drove in a run with his second double, although he owes it mostly to left fielder Yoenis Céspedes, who had the ball bounce off his glove shy of the warning track in the seventh inning.
Opening Day is three weeks away and right now you could probably guess that Trey Mancini will mostly fill in for Suzuki in right field and then guys like Mastrobuoni, Tauchman, Ben DeLuzio and Nelson Velázquez are going to be fighting it out for one of the bench spots.
