Chicago Cubs: Can WBC Star John Andreoli Find Big League Role?
Chicago Cubs outfield prospect John Andreoli was incredibly impressive in the World Baseball Classic. Can he turn his success into a big league role with the Cubs?
While stars like Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo and Jon Lester did not attend, the Chicago Cubs have created plenty of buzz at the World Baseball Classic. Most of that has been surrounded around Javier Baez dazzling at second base for Puerto Rico, because as all Cubs’ fans know, Baez is an absolute joy to watch on a baseball diamond.
Baez is great, but the best Cubs’ performer in the WBC has been outfield prospect, John Andreoli. The 26-year-old Andreoli has yet to get a big league opportunity, but he has been an absolute star in the WBC as Team Italy’s starting right fielder.
Andreoli went 6-for-16 with three home runs and seven RBIs in the tournament. His long solo blast against Venezuela on Monday night gave Italy a 2-1 lead in their elimination game. Unfortunately, it was not enough, as the Italians fell 4-3, but Andreoli’s performance has put him on the map.
Showing great patience at the plate and speed on the base paths, Andreoli has been an interesting prospect in the Cubs system for the last few years. He posted a .256/.374/.396 slash line at Triple-A Iowa last year, and also stole 43 bases in 55 attempts.
Andreoli has shown a strong control over the strike zone throughout his minor league career. His career .374 on-base percentage is a good indicator of long-term success. However, the power that Andreoli showed in the World Baseball Classic seemingly came out of nowhere.
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He has only hit 20 home runs with an ugly .375 slugging percentage throughout five full seasons in the minors. Andreoli is a solid contact hitter who shows elite plate discipline, but power has never been a major part of his game.
It is obviously an extremely small sample size, but those three home runs in only 16 at-bats makes me wonder if Andreoli has unlocked some late-career power. I am not talking about a guy who can hit 30 bombs in a year, but if Andreoli has enough pop in his bat to hit 15-20 home runs in a season, he could be an extremely valuable major league player if given the opportunity.
I highly doubt that opportunity would ever come with the Cubs. However, I could see him playing a valuable bench role for the team as soon as this season. If Matt Sczcur misses the opening day 25-man roster cut, he will likely have to be moved by the team. I could see Andreoli getting an opportunity as a fifth outfielder type at some point in 2017 if the team were to move Sczcur.
If he continues to perform at a high level, it is also possible that the Cubs look to trade Andreoli. He already has elite plate discipline and great speed on the base paths. If the power shows up again early in the season, he will get some attention of teams on the trade market.
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His performance in only 16 at-bats in the World Baseball Classic does not mean that Andreoli is all of a sudden going to be a star. However, if he can capitalize on this success, Andreoli could easily become a strong role player either for the Chicago Cubs or another organization.