CHICAGO – The Chicago Cubs today selected infielder Matt Mervis from Triple-A Iowa and optioned infielder Edwin Ríos to Iowa.
Mervis, 25, will wear uniform number 22 and is available for today’s 1:20 p.m. CT game against the Miami Marlins at Wrigley Field.
The left-handed hitting Mervis has batted .286 (26-for-91) with 27 runs scored, seven doubles, six home runs, 27 RBI, a .402 on-base percentage, a .560 slugging percentage and a .962 OPS in 24 games for Iowa this season. His 27 runs are the third-most in the International League, while his 27 RBI rank fifth. Mervis has batted .300 (6-for-20) against left-handed pitching and posted a .282 mark (20-for-71) against righthanders with a .313 average (15-for-48) with runners on base. He has played 22 games at first base, compiling a .989 fielding percentage (2 E/177 TC).
Mervis in 2022 was named the Cubs Minor League Player of the Year after he batted a combined .309 (158-for-512) with 40 doubles, two triples, 36 home runs, 119 RBI and 50 walks contributing to a .379 on-base percentage and a .984 OPS. He touched three levels of the organization, going through High-A South Bend, Double-A Tennessee and Iowa. His 36 home runs were the most by a Cubs minor leaguer since Kris Bryant hit 43 in 2014.
Following the 2022 season, Mervis was named a MiLB.com Cubs Organizational All-Star and was named to the Arizona Fall League Rising Stars Team as he batted .262 (16-for-61) with six doubles and 12 RBI in 17 games for Mesa. In March 2023, Mervis played in four games for Team Israel during the World Baseball Classic.
The six-foot four-inch Mervis was signed by the Cubs as a non-drafted free agent in June of 2020. Originally selected by Washington in the 39th round of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft, he elected to attend Duke University. Mervis graduated from Georgetown Preparatory School in Maryland.
Ríos, 29, is batting .100 (2-for-20) with one double, one home run and two RBI in 12 games with Chicago this season. The left-handed hitting infielder singed with the Cubs as a free agent in February.
