Chicago Cubs: Who plays shortstop if Javy Baez goes down?

Chicago Cubs shortstop Addison Russell has suffered a setback with his foot injury. With Javy Baez holding it down at short, the Cubs are still in good shape, but what happens if Baez, unfortunately, goes down?

The Chicago Cubs are loaded with position player depth across the roster. Whenever they have suffered an injury the past couple of seasons, there has always been a worthy replacement ready to come in and make an impact.

Shortstop Addison Russell has been on the disabled list for about a month with a foot injury. Like always, the Chicago Cubs have been able to adequately replace Russell simply by allowing Javier Baez to take over at short. Baez has been playing out of his mind and is a huge reason why the Cubs have not missed Russell much.

Baez has started every single game for the Cubs at shortstop since August 3rd. In Russell’s absence, Baez hit an impressive .294/.345/.510 with a .350 wOBA and a 113 wRC+ in the month of August, according to FanGraphs. On top of that, Baez is playing elite defense at the most important position on the infield.

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Having Russell at short and Baez at second base is the ideal situation for the Chicago Cubs. However, Baez at short and some combination of Ben Zobrist, Tommy La Stella and Ian Happ at second base is not a bad situation either. The Cubs’ extreme depth has really come into play nicely with Russell out.

What if Javy goes down?

However, their shortstop depth is running dry. If something were to happen to Baez, the Cubs would be in some serious trouble at the position.

Zobrist played shortstop in the ninth inning of a blowout win earlier in the week. Zobrist has a lot of experience at the position and used to be a quality defender at short. However, at this point in his career, Zobrist simply is not a viable option at shortstop. He is a step slow and is nothing more than an average defender at second base. Simply put, Zobrist would be a defensive liability at shortstop.

As part of their September call ups, the Chicago Cubs promoted Mike Freeman from Triple-A Iowa. Freeman is an extremely versatile player who has played a lot of shortstop in the minor leagues. However, he is a journeyman minor league infielder who has only hit .123/.206/.139 in 63 career MLB plate appearances.

Freeman can at least handle himself defensively at shortstop, but the drop off from Russell and Baez to him would be absolutely massive.

Thinking outside the box

Freeman would be the best defensive option for the Cubs at shortstop if Baez went down. That being said, if they still wanted to get their best players in the lineup in this scenario, Joe Maddon could look to get creative. Zobrist at short with a combination of Happ and La Stella would be creative, but I could easily see Maddon taking this a step further.

In an emergency situation, I would not be shocked to see Kris Bryant taking some time at shortstop. Bryant is a strong defensive third baseman who has great speed, quickness and athleticism for a man of his size. He has never played shortstop on a consistent basis and would be far from ideal at the position, but Bryant just might be talented and athletic enough to make it work.

With Bryant at short, the Cubs could play La Stella as their primary third baseman and they would certainly have more talent on the field than with Freeman at short and Bryant at third. However, should they really mess with their star player like that? Bryant has shown a willingness and ability to handle anything that the Cubs throw at him, but this could be going too far.

The other logical option would be Ian Happ. Happ is not an elite defensive infielder, but he is above average at second base and it is not difficult to see how he could handle a move to shortstop. Happ has been spotted taking some grounders on the left side of the infield. This may mean nothing, but it could also be the Cubs trying to prepare for all situations.

Simply to Bryant, Happ is a quick and athletic player who has shown the ability to handle anything that the Chicago Cubs throw at him. I would not be surprised to see the Cubs try him at short. This would allow Bryant to stay at third, Zobrist at second and keep all of the best available bats in the lineup.

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When it comes down to it, the only ideal replacement for Baez at short would be Russell coming back from injury. However, that is not happening anytime soon. Hopefully, Baez can continue to stay perfectly healthy and the Chicago Cubs will not have to worry about this. However, if it were to happen, it would certainly be interesting to see what Maddon would do.