Last year, the Cubs got off to a 13-3 start and rode it to a division championship. They had hoped to start things just as hot this season, but that hasn’t proven to be the case.
Last year, the Cubs got off to a 13-3 start and rode it to a division championship. They had hoped to start things just as hot this season, but that hasn’t proven to be the case.
The offense exploded on Saturday, but it has otherwise been an Achilles heel for the team. Almost as a whole, the hitters have been quiet. But despite that, they leaned on veteran experience and know-how to resist the temptation to push the panic button and start pressing.
“We’ve got a lot of veterans, we don’t have many young guys,” manager David Ross said. “Guys that understand the 162 dynamic, and they just continue to try to keep that steady heartbeat. Getting off to a good start is important, and these guys didn’t, but I hadn’t seen any wavering in their mental state.”
In a typical starting lineup, the youngest batter is Ian Happ, and he’s been in the majors since 2017. And on the bench, the Cubs’ core group of players is backed up by guys who have been in the majors for a while like Eric Sogard, Jake Marisnick, and Austin Romine. There’s a lot of experience in the Cubs’ locker room.
After the offense put up big numbers Saturday, Javy Baez and Kris Bryant both said that there was a sense of relief up and down the lineup, and they saw that game’s results as an indicator that their approach at the plate had been sound, even if the results had not been coming yet.
“As a group, we’re starting to feel a lot better,” Willson Contreras said. “We’re seeing a lot of pitches in every at-bat, and that’s a good sign for us. The chemistry is still here, we’re supporting each other.”
Time will tell if this offense can produce consistently over the course of the full season, but almost three weeks in, the offense isn’t in panic mode yet.
Lineup stability
Ross hasn’t hit the panic button yet, either. He has been consistent with his lineups, even as his hitters have struggled. In his opinion, it’s too early for major changes to the lineup card.
“There’s always that time where you have to tinker with things,” Ross said. “But I don’t know that two weeks in is quite the time yet for me at least.”
His players appreciate the sense of normalcy brought by stability in the starting lineup, Ross said, and his backup and role players are comfortable with the playing time they’re getting.
Through 15 games, Ross has made only slight changes to his lineup from one game to the next. He believes that the group he runs out on the field each day is the right one, even when they’re slumping.
“When things aren’t going well you want to tinker with things,” Ross said. “There’s also an understanding from my seat that the success that we need to have is going to come from the group of guys that are that core group of guys.”
Nightmare inning
Before Sunday, Kyle Hendricks had never given up four home runs in a game. The Braves combined for four in the first inning for a total combined distance of 1,599 feet.
from Chicago Sun-Times - All https://ift.tt/3wZxrYa
No comments:
Post a Comment