Get To Know Gage Workman: The Biggest Surprise At Cubs Spring Training

I want to talk about a guy named Gage Workman that the Chicago Cubs added in the rule 5 draft this offseason. And I want to do this for a number of reasons

  • Most of you don’t know anything about Gage Workman
  • He’s been sensational in Big League spring training
  • He is traveling to Tokyo for the opening series, and could likely get material playing time if either Nico Hoerner or Matt Shaw cannot play
  • He’s made a number of changes to his game that have drastically changed his scouting report since coming to the Cubs
  • The upside is that he could be an everyday player that nobody saw coming. The downside is that he could settle into a below average MLB player. But the upside is good enough to warrant your attention right now.

So let’s talk about Gage Workman:

1. Spring Training Stats

  • 12-29 = .414 batting average
  • 4 extra base hits in 29 AB’s = .759 slug
  • 21% strikeout rate is about 50% lower than his minor league career K-rate of 32%
  • 4 stolen base attempts in 13 games as a corner infielder really moves my needle

I regret to inform you he wont hit .414 in the big leagues but it’s nice to see right now. Especially alongside the plus defense.

2. Player Profile

Gage Workman went to Arizona State and started at shortstop every year.

He’s very big at 6’5 – but he was pretty skinny out of college.

And pretty skinny with the Tigers minor league system.

But now he’s actually a big boy with ripped quads and juiced up forearms.

That’s the most important thing. He’s gotten a lot bigger and stronger, which has helped simplify the swing. He can use less movement because he has more strength, which has shown itself in the quality of his contact.

Staying on the simplification track.

He also used to hit switch, but had major strikeout and contact problems. To the point that he was graded out a 30 level hitter on the scouting scale that runs 20-80.

For comparison, Zack Greinke was a grade 35 hitter in his career.

But that’s where Gage started a couple years back. His size/strength and moving exclusively to hitting lefty have really allowed him to simplify things. And when you do that, you obviously play better baseball.

In that spirit, his defense has improved from MLB average as a draft prospect to being a 65 on the 20-80 scale. That’s in line with Alex Bregman and some of the better 3rd basemen across the league. It’s still a tick below Machado, Chapman and Arenado – but it’s about as close as you can get without being considered one of the best.

And since we stumbled into Gage Workman this offseason in the Rule 5 draft, I would say that’s pretty fucking incredible. Especially with a veteran Justin Turner, rookie Matt Shaw, banged up Nico Hoerner and all the other questions surrounding the lineup. Having a guy emerge that can flash leather and hit bombs is such a delightful change of pace around here.

3. Where He Fits

If Gage Workman plays anywhere close to this, then he obviously needs to be on the field every day. Although I think that’s a pipe dream to be honest.

The likely & positive reality is somewhere in-between. His glove is plenty good, but he’ll likely need significant plate appearances to be a productive hitter at the MLB level right now. I don’t think he can sit 4 games and then slide in to give someone a day off the same way an experienced veteran could. And expecting that out of him would be really stupid given how much timing and experience you need to succeed in the big leagues.

So in that mindset, it’s hard to figure a path forward that doesn’t involve significant injury to someone else. Especially if we’re planning to platoon him in select match ups. That just doesn’t seem like a good development path.

And the reason that’s important is he’s a Rule 5 pick, which means he came over from the Tigers this offseason because they wouldn’t put him on their 40-man roster. So the Cubs were able to add him via Rule 5 Draft but under the condition that he stays on the Cubs’ 26-man.

That’s the underlying theory in the Rule 5. A minor leaguer isn’t good enough to be on a teams 40-man, so other teams can add him to their roster, but they have to go one step further and make him a regular on the 26-man active roster. And if it turns out that he’s not good enough, you can sell him back to his original team.

That’s where this gets extremely complicated so let’s take a page out of Gage’s book and simplify.

The mechanics of him staying on the 26-man are pretty difficult. But if anyone is going to do it and be valuable, it’s going to look exactly like what Gage Workman has done this spring training. If he sticks it’s because circumstances dictate, and if he doesn’t, the Cubs are still in a very good position.

That’s called depth and I love Jed Hoyer making these moves. Especially with Tigers President and former Cubs Asst. GM Scott Harris. That’s good networking and planning and relationship building so you know Gage won’t be a complete bum.

Now the question becomes how much he sticks and what role he has. And honestly I’m pretty excited to see it shake out because Rule 5 guys almost always bust. But the ones that stick are basically on the fast track to being your favorite player on the club.

Will Gage be that guy this year?

Probably not.

But right now I don’t really give a fuck. I’m just happy he’s good enough to make the trip to Tokyo and then we can figure the rest out from there.

PS – Gage Workman is a decent baseball name. It’s not elite but I like it more than a Randy or a Bob.

PPS – Here’s a great article on Gage Workman’s journey

“Gage has had a tremendous camp,” said Counsell, who said being a Rule 5 pick is one of the “hardest” positions a player can be in during the spring. “We’re taking Gage because we feel like he’s a functional piece on a roster. That means he played really well. And it means he really did his job. I think he impressed – – maybe more than that. He surprised.”

2 Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *