Nick Madrigal

Nick Madrigal

26-Year-Old Second Baseman2B
Chicago Cubs
2023 Fantasy Outlook
It was another injury-riddled season for Madrigal in 2022. Back and groin ailments limited him to just 59 games. That figure actually represents the most for Madrigal across his three seasons at the MLB level, so he's never been able to fully showcase his abilities for an extended period of time. The talent is there, as the White Sox selected him fourth overall in 2018, and he batted above .300 during brief stints in the majors in 2020 and 2021. Last year was a step backward, as Madrigal only batted .249, but it's hard to come to too many conclusions until he gets in something close to a full season. Working in Madrigal's favor is the Cubs' timeline, as the team seems to be entering a rebuild. The second baseman is entering his age-26 season and is still looking to establish himself, so the playing time should be there. If Madrigal can stay healthy, he could be a breakout candidate, but there is plenty of risk here. Read Past Outlooks
RANKSFrom Preseason
#594
ADP
$Signed a one-year, $1.23 million contract with the Cubs in January of 2023.
Optioned to Triple-A
2BChicago Cubs  AAA
May 25, 2023
Madrigal was optioned Thursday to Triple-A Iowa, Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune reports.
ANALYSIS
This is the corresponding roster move for Kyle Hendricks (shoulder), who is off the IL and making his 2023 debut Thursday night against the Mets. Madrigal wasn't seeing much playing time in recent weeks and heads to the minors having registered an ugly .247/.286/.301 batting line through 34 games (98 plate appearances) this season with the Cubs.
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Batting Stats
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2023
2022
2021
2020
2023 MLB Game Log
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2022 MLB Game Log
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2021 MLB Game Log
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2020 MLB Game Log
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Batting Order Slot Breakdown
vs Right-Handed Pitchers
vs RHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
3
1
6
1
vs Left-Handed Pitchers
vs LHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
1
8
Left/Right Batting Splits
Since 2021
 
 
+16%
OPS vs LHP
2023
 
 
+31%
OPS vs LHP
2022
 
 
+13%
OPS vs RHP
2021
 
 
+45%
OPS vs LHP
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2021vs Left .727 181 16 2 11 0 .301 .328 .399
Since 2021vs Right .628 360 46 0 26 6 .255 .315 .313
2023vs Left .686 37 6 0 5 0 .278 .297 .389
2023vs Right .524 61 7 0 4 2 .228 .279 .246
2022vs Left .544 81 4 0 1 0 .256 .275 .269
2022vs Right .612 147 15 0 6 3 .244 .322 .290
2021vs Left .989 63 6 2 5 0 .373 .413 .576
2021vs Right .684 152 24 0 16 1 .277 .322 .362
More Splits View More Split Stats
Home/Away Batting Splits
Since 2021
 
 
+9%
OPS at Home
2023
 
 
+1%
OPS on Road
2022
 
 
+3%
OPS on Road
2021
 
 
+25%
OPS at Home
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2021Home .688 300 38 1 20 3 .284 .332 .356
Since 2021Away .629 241 24 1 17 3 .254 .303 .326
2023Home .585 58 9 0 3 1 .236 .276 .309
2023Away .589 40 4 0 6 1 .263 .300 .289
2022Home .579 124 11 0 5 2 .250 .311 .268
2022Away .597 104 8 0 2 1 .247 .298 .299
2021Home .850 118 18 1 12 0 .342 .381 .468
2021Away .680 97 12 1 9 1 .258 .309 .371
More Splits View More Split Stats
Stat Review
How does Nick Madrigal compare to other hitters?
This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
  • BB/K
    Walk to strikeout ratio
  • BB Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
  • K Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
  • ISO
    Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
  • AVG
    Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
  • OBP
    On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
  • SLG
    Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
  • OPS
    On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
  • wOBA
    Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Hard Hit Rate
    A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
  • Barrels/PA
    The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Expected BA
    Expected Batting Average.
  • Expected SLG
    Expected Slugging Percentage.
  • Sprint Speed
    The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
  • Ground Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
  • Line Drive %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
  • Fly Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.
BB/K
0.33
 
BB Rate
3.1%
 
K Rate
9.2%
 
BABIP
.274
 
ISO
.054
 
AVG
.247
 
OBP
.286
 
SLG
.301
 
OPS
.587
 
wOBA
.264
 
Exit Velocity
85.3 mph
 
Hard Hit Rate
20.2%
 
Barrels/PA
0.0%
 
Expected BA
.265
 
Expected SLG
.314
 
Sprint Speed
24.7 ft/sec
 
Ground Ball %
66.3%
 
Line Drive %
18.1%
 
Fly Ball %
15.7%
 
Prospect Rankings History
Advanced Batting Stats
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Additional Stats
Games By Position
Defensive Stats
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Batted Ball Stats
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Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers
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Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Nick Madrigal See More
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Past Fantasy Outlooks
2022
2021
2020
2019
Madrigal has done nothing but display elite bat-to-ball skills since being promoted to the majors in 2020. He is tied with David Fletcher for the lowest swing-and-miss rate (4.1%) since the start of the 2020 season, but he also has just two more home runs than you, the reader, in 324 plate appearances at the big-league level. The fact he is coming off a major hamstring injury which required surgery to repair while also rehabbing during the lockout would seemingly put his running game at risk, leaving all of his value tied up in his batting average as a nine-hole hitter in Chicago. He may be an option should you roster batting average deadweights with power upside, but you have to have the right type of roster construction to carry this one-trick pony in 2022.
Madrigal was exactly as advertised in his MLB debut. He hit .340 with zero barrels and seven strikeouts (6.4 K%) in 109 PA. Those highest on Madrigal are hoping for a three-category stud, but he would need to lead off. Last year, he primarily hit ninth -- a trend that could continue this year with the addition of Adam Eaton. He can still be an elite source of batting average with 15-20 steals, but he would be a massive drag on the other three standard counting stats if he hits ninth. Most good hitters eventually grow into power, but Madrigal is an exception in more ways than one. His bat-to-ball ability is already the stuff of legend, but he rarely hits the ball hard (20.8 Hard%) or in the air (12.5 FB%). Projecting just five homers in his first full season would be aggressive, so roster construction needs to be factored in. He is recovering from October shoulder surgery and is questionable for Opening Day.
Madrigal, the No. 4 overall pick in 2018, has been exactly as advertised in pro ball, for better and for worse. His elite bat-to-ball skill has been on full display at every level (career 3.0 K%), as has plus speed (35-for-48 on SB attempts last year) and 20-grade power (four HR in 163 games). His lack of power is backed up by a 13.4 Hard%. He didn't get the benefit of the juiced ball at High-A and Double-A, but no qualified MLB hitter even logged a 20.0 Hard% last year. Sometimes players vastly outperform their power grades as prospects, but this is the rare case where that should not be seen as a potential outcome. That should be just fine, however, as Madrigal projects to hit at least .300 with 20-plus steals and 100-plus runs. As long as expectations for his peak seasons are kept in that range, he shouldn't disappoint. Look for him to take over at the keystone early this season.
It is extremely rare for right-handed hitting college second basemen to be drafted in the first round, but the White Sox believed in Madrigal's hit tool and defense enough to pop him with the No. 4 overall pick last year. He came as advertised, hitting .303 with just five strikeouts (compared to seven walks) in 173 PA across stops in the AZL, Sally League and Carolina League. That bat-to-ball ability is Willians Astudillo-esque, that is to say, almost unparalleled. However, almost 50% of his hits went to the opposite field and he failed to hit a home run -- only seven of his 47 hits went for extra bases (all doubles). While he lacks power, Madrigal is a plus runner, and given how often he will end up at first base, that speed should lead to 20-plus steals annually. He is capable of playing shortstop but should be a plus defender at second base. Madrigal will likely head to Double-A at the start of his age-22 season, and should be on the fast track to the majors.
More Fantasy News
Productive in Friday win
2BChicago Cubs  AAA
May 20, 2023
Madrigal went 2-for-4 with a walk, two RBI and two runs scored in Friday's 10-1 win over the Phillies.
ANALYSIS
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Not in lineup Wednesday
2BChicago Cubs  AAA
May 17, 2023
Madrigal is not in the starting lineup Wednesday at Houston.
ANALYSIS
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Continues to fill in for Hoerner
2BChicago Cubs  AAA
May 15, 2023
Madrigal will start at second base and bat ninth in Monday's game against the Astros.
ANALYSIS
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Starting again Sunday
2BChicago Cubs  AAA
May 7, 2023
Madrigal is starting at third base and batting eighth in Sunday's game against the Marlins.
ANALYSIS
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Starting at third Sunday
2BChicago Cubs  AAA
April 23, 2023
Madrigal is starting at third base and batting ninth in Sunday's game against the Dodgers.
ANALYSIS
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