Cubs historical sleuthing: Joe Maddon edition

Here is a more recent Cubs photo, sent to me by BCB reader Clark Addison.

What do we know about this photo?

It’s 2015, because the “14” patch honoring Ernie Banks was worn only in that season. You’ll recognize, of course, Joe Maddon, Javier Báez and Anthony Rizzo.

But who are the catcher and the other infielder in the photo? The catcher’s name begins with “S” — the letter just barely visible on his jersey. That’s a very young Kyle Schwarber, in a rare photo of him catching. Schwarber caught in just nine games at Wrigley Field in 2015.

The other infielder was not familiar to me at first. However, it’s clearly not Addison Russell or Kris Bryant, who played the most games at second and third base for the Cubs in 2015.

So, I did a little image searching. If you don’t recognize the other infielder either, that’s Tommy La Stella, who played in just 33 games for the Cubs in 2015.

There was just one game where La Stella played in the field in a game where Schwarber caught. That game was played Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2015. Schwarber had started that game in left field and moved behind the plate in the eighth inning. La Stella had pinch-hit in the bottom of the eighth (he singled, but was erased on a double play) and stayed in the game at third base.

In the top of the ninth, Trevor Cahill allowed a leadoff walk and got a ground ball that advanced the runner to second. After that, Maddon replaced Cahill with Héctor Rondón. So what we are seeing here is the mound meeting replacing Cahill with Rondón. Héctor finished off the inning with no runs scoring, but the Cubs lost the game 4-1.

Just another little slice of Cubs history.