David Bote's time with the Chicago Cubs has been a roller coaster ride, and that continued in 2022. After an intriguing rookie campaign in 2018, the Cubs decided to give Bote a five-year 15-million dollar extension, banking on the utility man's eye-popping exit velocities eventually translating to a massive offensive breakout.
Unfortunately, it never really materialized into success at the dish. Bote's OPS improved to .785 the following season, but the progression stopped there. The Colorado native posted an OPS+ of 90 in 2020 before regressing even harder in 2021, batting just .199 with an OPS+ of 64 and having his season ended prematurely due to a shoulder injury.
With such hard regression mixed with an injury that kept him out until late June, Bote was likely on his last legs with the organization, with a need to prove himself to stick with the big league team after the year, even though his contract keeps him in Chicago through 2023.
The 29-year-old made his return on June 24, and stumbled out of the gate. Bote played in 21 games, primarily at second base, and was a league-average bat given his 99 wRC+. However, the former 18th-round pick had an absurdly high BABIP of .464 with a strikeout rate of 42.4% against a walk rate of just 5.1%, leading to his demotion on Aug. 4.
Yet, Bote would get another shot in September, appearing in another 20 games and giving the Cubs front office a reason to keep him around. This time, the righty mostly played third base, and put up a wRC+ of 120, reducing his strikeout rate to just 29.4% in this stretch, still high, but a big improvement.
Those 41 games added up to give Bote a wRC+ of 110, the best of his career, and a final slash line of .259/.315/.431. It'll be interesting to see if the Cubs buy into this resurgence and keep the righty around as the primary utility man in 2023. As Bote's main competition for the role, Zach McKinstry finished with just a wRC+ of 79, but will be cheaper and a better defender at multiple positions than Bote.
It will come down to mere preference for the final the utility spot, but David Bote gave himself a fighting chance to make the roster in 2023, even if it was a limited sample.
Final Grade: C
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