Predicting the Chicago Cubs 2017 September callups
Victor Caratini, C
Chicago Cubs catcher Victor Caratini has stepped up and played an important big league role twice this season. He was first called up to be the backup catcher when the Cubs moved on from Miguel Montero and again when Willson Contreras suffered his hamstring injury.
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Both times Caratini was called up, he played pretty well, providing strong defense behind the plate and hitting a solid .268/.318/.415 in 44 plate appearances. Caratini is a good hitting catcher who has a lot of long-term upside. His .345/.391/.562 slash line at Triple-A this season proves just that.
With his strong bat and solid big league success, the Chicago Cubs will undoubtedly call Caratini up as the third catcher on Friday. When Contreras returns, he will unlikely have much of a role as a fourth catcher, but Caratini would still be a good guy to have around on the bench.
Jacob Hannemann, OF
Out of all of these players predicted, Jacob Hannemann is probably the most unlikely September call up. He is an athletic outfielder with a bit of upside, but at 26 years old, Hannemann probably does not have much of a big league future.
He has hit a decent .264/.322/.399 in 305 Triple-A plate appearances this season, but I do not think that anybody expects Hannemann to be a legitimate long-term piece on this team. That being said, he is a decent hitter, strong defender and has a lot of speed.
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Hannemann stole 26 bases this season and has only been caught five times. He is not an elite baserunner, but I could certainly see the Cubs bringing him up as a pinch runner option and possible defensive replacement for September.