Cubs' present, future at first base
First-base prospects have been few and far between for the Cubs.
There was Mark Grace in the 1980s. He made it. Then Hee Seop Choi 10 or so years ago. Hee didn't make it.
That's been about it over the last quarter-century.
As the 2012 Cactus League season began Sunday, the Cubs planned to take a long look at their latest prospect to play first base: Anthony Rizzo.
Although the Cubs didn't draft Rizzo, their new front-office bosses, president Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer, have a history with Rizzo. Epstein's Boston Red Sox drafted Rizzo in 2007. After Hoyer left the Red Sox to become San Diego's GM, Epstein traded Rizzo to the Padres in December 2010 for Adrian Gonzalez.
So the Cubs already have a history with Rizzo, and they hope to have a bright future.
But first things first.
Rizzo is likely to begin the season at Class AAA Iowa while the Cubs hold his place at first base with journeyman Bryan LaHair.
Epstein and Hoyer say there is no reason to rush Rizzo, and they're right. They also say LaHair deserves a shot to start this year after leading all of the minor leagues in home runs last year, with 38 at Iowa. And as long as the Cubs were not going to be players for free-agent first basemen Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder, LaHair represents a low-cost, low-risk option for a team not expected to contend.
Here are the issues at first base for the Cubs:
Can these guys play?
Although both the 29-year-old LaHair and the 22-year-old Rizzo put up big numbers in Triple-A last year, they both did so in the hitter-happy Pacific Coast League.
At Iowa, LaHair had a line of .331/.405/.664 with the 38 homers and 109 RBI. Rizzo went .331/.404/.652 with 26 homers and 101 RBI at Tucson.
LaHair hit two homers for the Cubs in a September call-up. Rizzo played in 49 games for the Padres, struggling with a line of .141/.281/.242 and 1 homer. Hoyer said he made a mistake as Padres GM in calling Rizzo up.
Although LaHair has been mostly a career minor-leaguer, he and Cubs hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo believe he has shortened his swing enough to allow him to hit big-league pitching consistently.
Defense, defense:
The Cubs have been blessed with good defense at first base since the late 1980s. Grace, Derrek Lee and Carlos Pena gave the Cubs some of the best glove work in baseball
That was important in saving runs. Grace was able to field the hot throws of shortstop Shawon Dunston. Lee picked throws from third baseman Aramis Ramirez as Ramirez learned to play third. And Pena helped young middle infielders Starlin Castro and Darwin Barney last year.
LaHair is a right-handed first baseman, and he should be adequate. Rizzo is a left-hander, and the Cubs already have talked up his defense.
The other options:
LaHair may open the season as the cleanup hitter. He provides the Cubs a left-handed bat in the middle of the order.
New manager Dale Sveum may want to sit LaHair now and then against a tough left-handed pitcher.
The first backup is infielder-outfielder Jeff Baker, who hit .314 against left-handed pitchers last year.
Ranking NL first basemen
Bruce Miles ranks the top NL first baseman:
1. Joey Votto, Reds
2. Michael Morse, Nationals
3. Freddie Freeman, Braves
13. Bryan LaHair/Anthony Rizzo, CUBS