Though The Muck & The Mire: 2013 Cubs Preview - Infielders & Catchers

Happy Home Opener. This is the last of a three-part preview of the 2013 Cubs. Check out Part 1 for a quick review of the 2012 season, the offseason, and rotation and Part 2 for a check on the bullpen and outfield.

Infield
Starters: Anthony Rizzo, Darwin Barney, Starlin Castro, Luis Valbuena
Bench: Brent Lillibridge, Alberto Gonzalez
Coming Reinforcements: Ian Stewart, Josh Vitters
Hendry Era Comp: There isn't one really - Aramis Ramirez was (and still is) far superior to any current 3B options and the Hendry teams never had young studs like Rizzo & Castro at their respective positions. 
Future Lineup (with ETA for Prospects): Rizzo, Logan Watkins (2014), Castro, Javier Baez (2015)

The highest potential Cubs on the current roster occupy the infield. Anthony Rizzo has the potential to be an annual All-Star with annual .300/30/100 lines alongside Gold Glove defense. Honestly, I think 2013 will be the first of those years and I'm not alone. Rizzo already crushes righties (.892 2012 OPS). Once he figures out how to handle southpaws (.599 2012 OPS) and draw a couple walks (just 27 in 87 games), Rizzo will be a fixture in the middle of the order for the next decade.

Love The Bomb Part I: Sell on Soto

Detective Batista over there is getting outperformed by a catcher many thought was organizational depth after hitting just 21 HRs over 2000+ plate appearances in the minors in the last six seasons. Steve Clevenger also seems to be outperforming Soto behind the plate. Per Doug Padilla of ESPN Chicago:

"Clevenger has made just five starts and has only 22 at-bats, but still leads the club with five doubles and starting pitchers have a 1.88 when he starts, compared to a 5.29 ERA when he doesn’t." 

For a guy with a defensive skills of the average replacement (-0.1 career dWAR), Soto needs to be providing value from the plate. In his breakout rookie year of 2008, he had an oWAR of 4.0 on a .285 average with 86 RBIs. While also a function of the declining lineup around him, Soto has fallen off since '08, not breaking 500 plate appearances or 55 RBIs in the last three seasons.

Cubs Week In Review - Cardinals, Marlins, Reds

Well, that was a rough week. 0-6 Saturday through Friday, including a sweep by the fluorescent Floridian ballclub. A total of 14 runs were scored over six games from the single-specialist Cubs lineup. Starters decided they had enough of outperforming the hitters the first week and sunk down to their rightful place in the bottom third of the majors. And the defense--oh, the defense! Multi-error games Saturday, Tuesday, and Friday have led to big innings from three separate opponents. As I sit here watching the top of the 7th on Saturday (5 RUNS! 10 HITS!), the outfield has made errors on two consecutive plays. Let's hope this week bottoms out as the worst single week of the season. Not much faith in that, but at least the turn of weather in May should warm up the bats and bring some sunny afternoons at the ballpark. After the jump, we knock out a couple burning questions raised through these first few weeks.