Mervis surely hadn’t seen many like that during his time in the minors. The first pitch Mervis saw was a 92 mph changeup for a strike from Marlins starter Edward Cabrera, who is death to lefties. But I would also say we’re not expecting him to carry our lineup or do anything more than he can do.” We’re calling him up in part because we’re struggling a bit. “It’s the nature of baseball you go up and down. “Obviously, we’re in a bit of a dip right now,” Hoyer said. But it’s also wise not to look at the left-handed Mervis as someone who is supposed to save a scuffling offense. Having that type of depth is important for an organization. During Ross’ playing days with the Cubs, Kris Bryant, Addison Russell, Kyle Schwarber, Javier Báez and Willson Contreras were called up amid competitive seasons and impacted the offense significantly. Not during his time as manager, at least. Ross pointed out that “it hadn’t been that way,” as far as being able to call a potentially impactful bat to try to stem an offensive slump. Hopefully he’s able to give us a nice little spark there.” “What Mervis is doing, it just felt like a really good time for us as a team. “Right now we could use a little offensive jolt at the bottom,” manager David Ross said.

It’s in moments like these when shaking things up and trying to change up the dynamic of the offense can come in handy. 158 with a 22 wRC+ with runners in scoring position, losing five of those games by just one run. But while getting swept by the Marlins in Miami and then losing three of four against the Washington Nationals, they hit. They really scuffled with men in scoring position. They entered the trip with a 117 wRC+ but over those seven games posted a pedestrian 94 wRC+. The Cubs are coming off a 1-6 trip during which an offense that was tops in the National League through May hit a rough patch.

But equally important to the demise of that group was the inability to keep that talent flowing. A key component to the building up of the last run of competitive Cubs teams was a deep and talented farm system. But Mervis’ ascension speaks to something that’s been lacking at the Friendly Confines for a few years now. Watching a debut many have been pining for always adds to the buzz. Both on an organizational level - scouts and player development people that impact these guys - but also on a human level, to watch a guy realize his dream is really a special thing.

I’ve said this a lot in the past: These debut days are the most fun for us. “Everyone is really excited about Matt, and they should be,” team president Jed Hoyer said.

Seven day magic by edward eager