The Cubs claimed outfielder Phillip Ervin off waivers from the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday. The team’s 40-man roster now stands at 37 players.
The move provides the Cubs with some much-needed outfield depth as the team had just two outfielders (Ian Happ and Jason Heyward) on the 40-man roster prior to Tuesday’s move.
After having his best season in the Majors with the Reds in 2019, which saw him play a career-high 91 games, Ervin struggled mightily at the plate in ‘20. He had a .149/.292/.189 slash line with no homers and an 80 OPS in 37 games between Cincinnati and Seattle.
While Ervin’s numbers from 2020 aren’t great, his career numbers tell a slightly different story. The 28-year old outfield has a career .277/.352/.459 slash line with seven of his 17 career home runs coming off of southpaws. Ervin could figure into the team’s plans as a fourth outfielder with few current options. Especially as an outfielder who provides some offense against left-handed pitching.
The Cubs, like most of the other teams around baseball, have been pretty quiet with no significant movement in the trade or free-agent markets. The Cubs will likely add some more players to the outfield mix to go with Happ and Heyward before Spring Training.
“We’re aware of our [outfield] numbers. I think that that’s something that we’ve certainly prioritized and had some discussions about,” president Jed Hoyer said at the Winter Meetings. “We’re certainly going to be looking at outfielders as we round out the roster.”
