Patrick Wisdom Makes History With Cubs
The Chicago Cubs have been surging recently. They currently sit atop the NL Central Division with a record of 37 wins and 27 losses. Many of their contributions on the offensive side have come from 29-year-old Patrick Wisdom. Wisdom has been on an improbable run since making his debut 10 games ago.
In his first 10 starts with the Cubs, Wisdom has slugged 8 home runs already. This tied Reds’ OF Aristides Aquino’s record for the most home runs by any player in his first ten games with a team since 1900.
The Cubs have been struck by the injury bug all year, with ten players currently on the Injured List. Kris Bryant has been playing the outfield, and the Cubs signed Matt Duffy to play third for them this season. When Duffy went down with a back injury, Wisdom’s opportunity arose.
When asked about his early success, Wisdom accredited his few spurts in the MLB with other teams, along with recognizing it’s still the same game he’s been playing his whole life.
“Playing for a long time at the Triple-A level, and getting spurts at the major league level, it’s definitely helped me ease my mind, not letting it [feel] bigger than the moment,” says Wisdom. “There’s another deck on the stadium and more cameras, but it’s the same game.”
Patrick Wisdom’s Journey
Wisdom began his career with the St. Louis Cardinals. After nearly 50 at-bats, he was traded to the Texas Rangers for OF Drew Robinson. Before he became a Cub, he spent time with the Seattle Mariners as well, but was released.
“Couldn’t get it going,” Wisdom said. “It was kind of a blessing in disguise.”
Wisdom crushed it at the alternate site last year, according to Cubs President Jed Hoyer. Hoyer even mentioned how his home run totals may have been under-reported, and that he had a surreal hot streak last year where he was just crushing the ball.
Cardinals President Weighs In
Cardinals President John Mozeliak had a take on the whole situation.
“Anytime you see a player you had high hopes for and was unable to do it for you, you wonder what went wrong with the process,” Mozeliak said. “Could we have been more patient? Could we have given him more tries? To truly answer those types of questions, you have to give it time.”
I get where he’s coming from in a sense. Many players start off poorly in their career, only to go to another team and become completely different players. How do you think the Blue Jays feel knowing the Yankees paid next to nothing for Gio Urshela, and now he can hit all of a sudden? Detroit trading an “aging” Justin Verlander, and then him winning a Cy Young Award? The Pirates with Gerrit Cole, Tyler Glasnow, Austin Meadows, and Shane Baz?
Cubs and Wisdom Continue Winning
The Cubs recently took 2 out of 3 against the San Diego Padres. They hope to achieve a sweep Sunday night against their bitter rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals. For Wisdom, it’s his first opportunity playing the team who traded and gave up on him.
Despite Wisdom starting the season as the backup to the backup third-basemen, his impressive start shows his potential. To say he will continue this remarkable stretch would be egregious. However, he is showing he belongs in the majors and can build off what he’s demonstrated thus far. It will be interesting to see what he looks like two months from now after this unprecedented start.
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