Matt

Mervis

Mervis was ineffective in his action with the Cubs, as the 26-year-old hit just .115 with an OPS of .302 helping tell the story. The 26-year-old was considered one of the better hitting prospects in the higher-levels not long ago, but so far, things don’t look great. Miles Mastrobuoni is up for Mervis to get work in Triple-A.

Especially with Pete Crow-Armstrong starting off well, Mervis needs to heat up if he’s going to have much chance of sticking around after Cody Bellinger and Seiya Suzuki return. The Cubs would be content with Mike Tauchman as their lefty DH once they have a healthy outfield.

Mervis doubled to lead off the fifth inning and took third base on a wild pitch. A sacrifice fly by Pete Crow-Armstrong brought Mervis in to score the only run of the game. The 26-year-old first baseman is 3-for-23 to start the year since he’s taken a strong-side platoon role against right-handers with the Cubs.

Mervis looked completely overwhelmed last year in his first taste of the majors, struggling to a disastrous .531 OPS in 99 plate appearances before being jettisoned to the minors for good by mid-June. The 26-year-old slugger has positively mashed at the Triple-A level, but needs to prove he can hold his own at the highest level before fantasy managers should consider handing him a roster spot. There’s certainly some talent here, but last year’s persistent struggles shouldn’t be forgotten.

The latest cuts from Chicago’s camp trim their spring roster to just 42 players. Mervis was always destined to open the season back in the minors, especially after the Cubs re-signed Cody Bellinger. Thompson has made 80 appearances (23 starts) in the big leagues since 2021 and figures to be back up at some point later this year.

The 25-year-old slugger served as the Cubs’ designated hitter and batted cleanup in this one. He led off the second inning with a line drive single off of Giants’ ace Logan Webb and scored the game’s first run on a two-run single off the bat of Brennen Davis. Mervis also led off the sixth inning with a walk and scored on an RBI single by Kevin Alcantara. If Cody Bellinger doesn’t wind up returning to the Cubs, there could be an opening for Mervis to seize everyday at-bats if he has a strong showing in Arizona. It’s certainly a situation worth monitoring for fantasy purposes.

Mervis has hit .299/.438/.504 with six homers in 38 games for Iowa since the Cubs demoted him. He might have gotten another opportunity by now, but the Jeimer Candelario addition was a setback for his chances. Still, it shouldn’t be off the table. Mervis at first and Candelario at third against righties seems better than the current arrangement of Candelario at first and Nick Madrigal at third. Of course, things are going well enough for the Cubs right now that there isn’t much motivation to make a change.

The Mervis era has gotten off to a rocky start in Chicago. The 25-year-old slugger’s astronomical offensive numbers from the upper minors failed to translate to the highest level in his first taste of the majors as he batted just .167 (15-for-90) with three homers and 11 RBI in 27 games before being shipped back to the minors. He’ll certainly get another chance in the near future, but it sounds like the Cubs want to roll with Cody Bellinger at the cold corner for now.

Mervis opened the scoring in the contest with his 420-foot (110.1 mph EV) solo shot off of Jakob Junis to lead off the third inning. That would be his only hit in three at-bats on the afternoon. The 25-year-old slugger has struggled for the most part in his first exposure to big league pitching -- slashing just .175/.250/.313 with three homers and 10 RBI.

Mervis smacked a two-run double off of Tyler Anderson in the second inning that increased the Cubs’ early advantage to 4-0. That would be his lone hit in four at-bats on the night -- and the extent of the Cubs’ offense. The rookie slugger has struggled in his first taste of MLB action -- slashing a disappointing .183/.256/.296 with two homers and nine RBI in his first 78 plate appearances.