Jed Hoyer Needs to Create More Space for Young Players to Work Through Failure

Several young Cubs hitters received a great deal of criticism this season because they didn’t immediately reproduce or improve upon their minor-league results after being promoted. Much of the ire was directed at Matt Mervis (46 wRC+) and Pete Crow-Armstrong (-32 wRC+), who received a combined 118 plate appearances this past season. But what if I told you rookie hitters aren’t actually supposed to be very good right out of the gate?

I’ll pause to let you pick your jaws up off the floor.

Though rookies have been more productive than ever over the last two seasons, their aggregate 91 wRC+ means they’re still 9% below league average in terms of creating runs. The improvement has been steady if…