Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Say what you will about Chicago Cubs manager Dale Sveum, but he has done his best to keep every member of the Cubs’ lackluster offense guessing. After putting Luis Valbuena in the lead off spot on Sunday versus the New York Mets, Sveum has decided to bat Valbuena in the No. 1 spot once again as the Cubs trek to face the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday.
No team wants to be 15 games out of first place before the month of July even hits, yet Chicago can get used to such incompetence from its team all summer long.
When David DeJesus went down on Friday night, everyone knew that a roster-wide shakeup was on the horizon. However, I don’t agree with the Valbuena move simply because he has been one of the Cubs’ best run producers. Slotting him in the lead off spot may give him more at bats, but it also leaves a hole in the middle of the lineup.
Instead, I would love to see Chicago lead off with Julio Bourbon, who has shown the ability to get on base and steal bags in the past. Throwing a slugger like Valbuena at the top only sets you further behind the eight ball.
The conversation of the lead off spot immediately turns to the health of DeJesus — if the Cubs’ center fielder is going to miss a lot of time then the organization will have to think twice about the $6.5 million team option that is in DeJesus’ contract this summer.
For now, the futile MLB roster is forced to bat players out of place in hopes that something can spark this team out of fourth place.
