The Cubs today traded infielder Tommy La Stella to the Los Angeles Angeles for a player to be named later or cash considerations.
La Stella played 123 games for the Cubs last season and hit .266/.340/.331 over 192 at-bats. In the field, La Stella is primarily a second baseman who can also play third, but with the Cubs he primarily served as a pinch-hitter over the past few seasons. He set a Cubs all-time single-season record with 24 pinch-hits in 77 at-bats in 2018. That’s a .312 batting average. La Stella’s ability to pinch-hit earned him the nickname “3 AM” after a comment by manager Joe Maddon in 2016 that La Stella could roll out of bat at three in the morning and still get a hit.