You can never have enough first basemen in your organization, or so the Cubs seem to believe. As first reported by Craig Mish of the Miami Herald, they are bringing 33-year-old Garrett Cooper into camp as a non-roster invitee. The righty batter hit a career-high 17 homers with 61 RBI last year across 457 plate appearances with the Marlins and Padres, but his 96 wRC+ was easily the lowest he’s generated in a full season.
That comes from having a 28.9% strikeout rate with a 6.8% walk rate and below-average speed. Cooper’s 60-grade raw power has never really shown up, as evidenced by the low homer totals and a .