Jon

Berti

Berti hit .210/.262/.239 with 11 steals in 107 plate appearances for the Cubs before being designated for assignment earlier this week. He’ll look for a bench spot elsewhere, but he might have to take a minor league deal.

Berti had been with the Cubs since Opening Day, but he had just 107 plate appearances in 53 games and hit .210/.262/.239 with no homers and 11 steals. Someone else might have more use for his versatility and speed off the bench.

Shaw takes a seat on Wednesday night amid a brutal 17-for-101 slump that includes only one homer and six steals over his last 30 games. It’ll be veteran speedster Jon Berti getting a shot at the hot corner. It feels inevitable that the Cubs are going to bring in some extra third base depth at the trade deadline in a few weeks.

Shaw will displace Jon Berti as the Cubs’ primary third baseman after hitting four homers for Iowa over the weekend. He came in at .286/.409/.560 overall during his 24-game stint in Triple-A. He’s not a must pickup in 10-team leagues, but those in deeper formats could benefit from adding him. Hopefully, he’ll attempt some steals this time around; he was 5-for-5 there in Triple-A but never tried any in 18 games before his demotion last month.

Shaw flopped in his first opportunity at the highest level earlier this season, but he’s started to really get his groove back recently at the Triple-A level, putting together his second consecutive multi-homer performance on Friday evening. The -year-old top prospect launched a leadoff homer before adding a two-run blast in the sixth inning, just for good measure. He’s gone deep five times in his last 18 at-bats and is now hitting .302/.423/.593 over 23 games since being demoted to Triple-A Iowa. It’s probably time for the Cubs to seriously consider giving him another chance in the big leagues, especially since they’ve been rolling with veteran speedster Jon Berti at the position for the past few weeks.

The Cubs will likely give Hoerner a few days off in the early portion of the season as he missed most of the spring while recovering from elbow surgery. He should be available off the bench, but Jon Berti gets the start at second.

After missing the two games of the Tokyo Series against the Dodgers, Hoerner is back in there at second base and batting sixth for the Cubs against Zac Gallen and the Diamondbacks on Thursday. His return shifts Jon Berti back to a reserve role for the Cubs and saps him of any fantasy relevance.

Berti has stolen bases in each of the first two games of the season. The 35-year-old is a one-category player, and there’s no guarantee he’ll see much playing time if/when the Cubs are healthy at the end of spring training. Still, Berti is worth monitoring because of his ability to swipe bags as seen in 99 stolen bases in just 463 career games.

It’s not supposed to be a major problem, but we’ll see. With Alex Bregman no longer an option, Shaw is the clear favorite to serve as the Cubs’ third baseman. Alternatives include Jon Berti, Nicky Lopez, Vidal Bruján and Rule 5 pick Gage Workman.

Berti augments Chicago’s infield depth heading into next season as an experienced utility infielder with the speed to make an impact on the bases when he gets an opportunity to contribute. The 35-year-old was hurt most of last year with the Yankees as a lingering calf issue limited him to just 25 games before being non-tendered back in late November. There’s a chance he opens next season as the Cubs’ starting third baseman if top prospect Matt Shaw fails to lock down the role in camp.