When the Cubs signed Jon Berti as a backup infielder before the 2025 season, it seemed like a reasonable thing to do.
Berti had led the National League in stolen bases in 2022 with 41, and the following year posted a .748 OPS in 133 games with the Marlins, with 16 steals and 2.2 bWAR.
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Even at age 35, it seemed like Berti would be a suitable infield backup. And, indeed, he started the season pretty well. On May 1 he was batting .306/.370/.347 (15-for-49) in 20 games, with seven stolen bases.
But yikes, after that Berti just stopped hitting. He didn’t play much, either, once Matt Shaw was recalled from Triple-A Iowa. After June 1 Berti started just four times and from May 2 until he was released in August, batted just .118/.151/.118 (6-for-51) with 11 strikeouts.
And so it was that Craig Counsell started using Berti as his mop-up pitcher in blowouts. Berti pitched four times in July:
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The ninth inning of an 11-3 win over the Cardinals July 4
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The eighth inning of an 8-1 loss to the Twins July 8
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The ninth inning of a 12-4 loss to the Royals July 21
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The eighth inning of a 12-5 loss at the White Sox July 25
Overall, Berti threw 3.2 innings and allowed four hits and four walks and three runs.
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The most interesting of those outings was the one in the blowout win over the Cardinals July 4, the one in which the Cubs set a franchise record with eight home runs.
They led 11-0 going into the ninth so Counsell figured maybe he’d save the bullpen by letting Berti pitch. Whoops, bad idea. Berti got hit hard, allowing two hits and three walks. As noted, the Cardinals scored three times and had two runners on base (both in scoring position) with two out and they were probably one hit away from Counsell having to warm up a real pitcher.
During that inning, though, Berti did make this acrobatic fielding play [VIDEO].
That pitch was thrown very, very slowly:
Berti appeared in just four more games for the Cubs after his July 25 pitching outing on the South Side. No one picked him up after the release. It’s safe to assume his career is over — but he’ll always have that one year where he led the NL in steals.
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Oh, and he used to absolutely kill the Cubs while with the Marlins. In 15 career games vs. the Cubs, Berti batted .319/.389/.532 (15-for-47) with three home runs, by far his best OPS against any team. Maybe that’s why he couldn’t hit as a North Sider.
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