Patrick Mooney of CSN Chicago tells the interesting tale of how Kyle Schwarber put himself on the Cubs’ radar — with a big assist from longtime scout Stan Zielinski, who unfortunately passed away recently. Zielinski drew quite a picture of Schwarber upon seeing him in person, invoking none other than Babe Ruth and calling Schwarber “the best college bat I’ve seen in a long time” — adding, “and remember I’m so old I’ve seen a lot of them.” It’s an interesting read that’s well worth your time.
Here’s more from the NL Central:
- This profile of new Brewers slugger Eric Thames, from Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca, also merits a look this morning. Interestingly, as Nicholson-Smith writes and Thames explains, the 30-year-old has flattened his swing out since he last appeared in the majors. While there’s an increasing trend toward doing just the opposite to drive power enhancements, Thames engineered his return to the bigs by posting massive home run tallies in Korea.
- The Cardinals aren’t denying that there’s a bit of worry with the early performance of their relief corps, as ESPN.com’s Mark Saxon reports. While the unit got the job done last night, Trevor Rosenthal — who was handed the ball in the eighth — was touched for three hits and a run while recording just one out. Closer Seung-hwan Oh and major free-agent signee Brett Cecil have each struggled through the season’s first nine games, among others. Short sample alarms are by now obviously blaring, and there’s not a whole that that could be done at this stage anyway. But that doesn’t mean the front office isn’t keeping an eye on the situation. “I’m concerned, but I also realize it is still too early to panic,” said GM John Mozeliak.
- That’s not to say that the Cardinals aren’t open to trying things in hopes of jolting the club out of its uninspiring start. After all, lumbering first baseman Matt Adams has now seen 27 1/3 innings of action in left field — a decision that boosts the lineup but also comes with some tradeoffs. Matheny acknowledges as much, as Saxon further reports. “We’re going to get what we get out of a guy who hasn’t played a lot there,” Matheny said in discussing Adams’s transition to the grass. “We’ve seen opportunities to make an impact offensively and, right now, we need both.”
Yet the Cardinals have Jose Martinez, an actual left fielder that can hit (albeit minors, but a September callup and spring training), sitting on the bench and isn’t a defensive liability. Gotta think 9f what’s going through his head….win the 4th outfielder spot out of spring and get passed over by Matt Adam’s whose only experience was shagging fly balls.
Adams is a much better hitter than Martinez and is a LHB
Probably. But why have Martinez on the roster? Adams will have to have a career year for it to even be close to breaking even by playing him in the OF. He’s terrible defensively out there
Yes, one of the stated goals of the Cards for this year was better defense. That’s why Matheny’s use of Adams in LF is puzzling.
As is his reliance on the chelonian Peralta at 3rd.
I’m I’m with you. I’m not a fan of Matheny, but I’ve always thought the hatred towards him was pretty overboard. But this Adams in LF thing is inexcusable.
Adams is NOT a better hitter. Martinez can rake. He takes infinitely better at bats. Just like Garcia should be playing over Wong. Its pedigree and politics why Martinez and Garcia lose PT to those guys. To be fair Carp should move to 3B when Adams plays. Jedd at 3B when Adams sits vs LHP
I willing to guess that the Cardinals are showcasing Adams in hopes that another club will see that he can hit and he can offer diversity on the field. Hopefully he continues to hit and then the Cardinals can actually get something back in return via trade..
RedFeather:
But it’s showing every team the exact opposite.
Based on Adams’s adventurous antics in LF, one can say that any diversity he can offer on the field is restricted to 1B and DH. And if he continues to underwhelm at the plate, his trade value is nil.
Besides, I can’t see Matheny putting guys out there just to improve their trade value. He plays his favorites to the bitter end.
I’m a Cub fan but just listen I want the Cards to get second in the west/ I know they like Carpenter at first wrong(3B) Adam is good on offense no (LF) he takes (1B) Martinez in (LF) Peratha and Gohko plays (2B)trade Wong he need a new home
East lol
“I willing to guess that the Cardinals are showcasing Adams in hopes that another club will see that he can hit and he can offer diversity on the field.”
Why would this be your guess? He is doing neither of those things and has made it hilariously clear that he is not an of at the moment.
adams is by far from a lumbering runner. he’s definitely not the slowest cardinal. in a race, he could outrun carpenter, peralta, molina, gyorko, and most of the pitching staff.
I sincerely doubt he outruns Carpenter or Gyorko.
carp is sloooooow
The link for Eric Thames is currently going to Seung-hwan Oh.
he was very successfully Korean-ized over there
Jeff Todd, thanks for the link and reference to the Stan Zielinski article. It is a heartfelt tribute to an old-school scout — a unique, insightful baseball personality who will be missed.
It’s worth a full read no matter what team you favor.
I agree. Covers an aspect of the game that is seldom covered, but is often more important to an organization than batting lineups, defensive shifts, or perfect late inning tactics.
Apparently I wasn’t the only one who thought Kyle Schwarber resembled Babe Ruth the first time I saw him bat. I’m also quite certain that I am not alone in my thinking that the new Sultan of Swat should be hitting in the middle of the Cubs batting order and not atop it. The Yankees knew as much regarding the Bambino but certain members of the Cubs organization think having Schwarber hit leadoff is a great idea.
The guy gets on base a lot, and the bottom of the Cubs order is solid enough to give him plenty of chances to drive in runs.
You mean the bottom of the order as in the pitcher’s spot at #8, which worked out so well for Maddon in 2015 that he abandoned that notion last season?
I’m not sure second guessing the Cubs after winning 200 games the last two years, plus the World Series, is really the best argument.
Schwarber gets on base, with a huge power threat. Putting Jay or Baez in the 9 spot effectively makes him #2, after the first inning. Worked pretty well in the WS.
Really? Dexter Fowler was the Cubs leadoff man in the 2016 postseason. Kyle Schwarber returned to the Cubs lineup in time for the World Series and only started the games in Cleveland when the DH was an option for Joe Maddon. Schwarber batted fifth in the first two contests and second in games 6 and 7. Javier Baez batted behind Schwarber as the #6 hitter in the first two games while Kris Bryant followed him in the #3 spot in games 6 and 7.
It’s obvious to any MLB fan with half a brain that some combination of Schwarber, Bryant and Anthony Rizzo needs to be in the heart of the Cubs batting order. My preference would be to have the right-handed hitting Bryant in the middle of the trio, flanked by left-handed hitting Rizzo at #3 and Schwarber in the #5 spot. If Maddon is insistent on the Cubs pitchers batting 8th in 2017 then a case could be made for the trio moving up a spot as the 2-3-4 hitters.
“It’s obvious to any MLB fan with half a brain…”
Damned by your own self-opinion.
The point was having the top half of the batting order be Schwarber, Bryant, Rizzo. It doesn’t really matter whether it’s 1,2,3, or 2,3,4.
Good thing Maddon’s has a full brain, unlike most MLB fans.
Why does that have to be the point? Because Joe Maddon needs to do things different than any other manager in the history of the sport? The trio of Schwarber, Bryant and Rizzo needs to be in the middle of the batting order. That is where they profile best, especially in the N.L. where the pitcher traditionally bats #9, or even #8 in the case of the 2015 and 2017 Cubs.
Maddon has primarily used his CF platoon of Jon Jay/Albert Almora batting 9th this season, along with Javier Baez on occasion, to be his “pseudo” second leadoff man after the first inning. He had Addison Russell primarily fill that role in his rookie season of 2015. Why not just utilize one or some combination of them as the Cubs regular leadoff hitter, since they don’t seem to have a prototypical one on their club or down in their farm system anyway? They should then put Ben Zobrist in the #2 hole where he profiles so well as a switch-hitting, high contact OBP batter, followed by the Cubs best hitters, power or otherwise hit 3,4,5…and put the pitcher back where he belongs in the 9-hole.
You just might be damning yourself as well. There are plenty of Cub fans who will forever revere Maddon as a baseball god because of the club finally winning a championship after a 108 year drought, regardless of what he does. But there are many others who are willing to be critical of him when it is justified and this is one of many instances where he deserves to be called out.
Joe Maddon’s lineups > Aaron’s second guesses.
I don’t second guess. Every criticism I’ve had regarding Joe Maddon was done directly and not in hindsight. I hated the notion of the Cubs pitchers batting 8th in 2015 regardless of their hitting acumen. I complained about Kyle Schwarber batting leadoff the moment Maddon started toying with the idea this past offseason and into spring training.
In addition, all those “brain-cramp” moves he made in the NLCS and World Series that nearly cost the Cubs their first World Series in 108 years were called-out as they happened, not in retrospect. And I was hardly alone among Cub nation with those observations.
You hated the notion of the pitcher batting 8th. Great. They won 97 games with the pitcher batting 8th, so I’m not sure your opinion on the subject has much validity.
They also won 103 games last season, along with a World Series championship, with the pitcher hitting in the traditional #9 spot. If the 2015 experiment worked so well why did Maddon abandon it last season with the same leadoff hitter (Dexter Fowler) in the lineup each of those seasons. Maybe because some sabermetric number cruncher in the front office told him his idea wasn’t such a good one after all.
It was never an experiment. The reasoning given was to take pressure off Russel as a rookie. by putting him in 9 spot. Maddon stated it several times.
They won 6 more games in 16′ than 15′. That couldn’t possibly be because of 5 players who were 23 had a full year in the majors, and the experience of a playoff run. Plus they added Zobrist and Heyward.
You rail and complain about Maddon’s methods, and completely ignore the fact they work. It worked in TB, and when he came to Chicago, he took he youngest team in the league and increased their win total by 24 games in a single season.
Maddon could have just as easily utilized Addison Russell in the #8 spot to take the pressure off of his rookie SS in 2015. There’s nothing wrong with having a #8 hitter with good speed hitting ahead of the pitcher. If Russell where to reach base with less than two outs it would be a common occurrence to have the pitcher bunt him into scoring position, affording the leadoff hitter an opportunity to drive him in with a base hit.
No he couldn’t. Batting him before the pitchers gets him nothing to hit. Batting him 9th gets him more pitches to drive.
Pitchers in the N.L. have to bat somewhere. If Maddon has them hit 8th then his #7 hitter wouldn’t get too many good pitches to hit either. It’s a spot he has had free-swinging power hitters like Willson Contreras or Javier Baez occupy most often this season. By your account, that alone would be a bone-headed move for Maddon to make.
Zobrist should be leading off… followed by Rizzo, Bryant and Schwarber.
A tandem of Ben Zobrist and Jon Jay should be batting in either the leadoff spot or ideally in the #2 role. If the Cubs had left well enough alone with Jason Heyward, as in letting him maintain his swing from his walk year of 2015 with the Cardinals, he would be the best option as the Cubs other top of the order hitter. Instead, they chose to have Heyward try and duplicate his power approach from 2012 with the Braves.
With the departure of Dexter Fowler in free agency, the Cubs didn’t need another high OBP power hitter who strikes out a lot. What they do need presently is a hitter to match Fowler’s production from the last two seasons which Heyward actually exceeded in his only year with the Cardinals, Heyward also had 23 SB’s in 26 attempts in 2015 with far fewer SO’s than what Fowler put up in his two effective seasons as the Cubs leadoff man.
Someone likes to micro-second-guess the reigning World Champions, who seem to be doing all right the way they are.
Why not turn that keen hindsight into solving the problems of the other 29 teams?
I love it! You have me micro-second-guessing MLB’s foremost micro-manager…Joe “Genius” Maddon.
Really? Please explain in specific detail how Joe Maddon micro manages.
The guy might be the least micro managing manager in baseball.
Clearly you are not a serious Cub fan or at least a follower of the sport who witnessed the 2016 postseason.
First off, I applaud Maddon’s micro-managing with the use of his position players defensively through the course of most every game. This could only happen because he has encouraged defensive versatility with an extremely athletic roster and then trusts them enough to utilize these players during the course of any given contest.
Unfortunately, Maddon’s micro-managing has also led to overuse of his relievers, negatively impacting the Cubs bullpen over time. This has put undo stress on the front office with the constant shuttle of relievers between AAA Iowa and Chicago, some of whom were lost to the waiver wire because they had exhausted their option years. Injuries have also negatively affected the pen, perhaps the result of too many appearances.
As much as Maddon seems to trust his positional players, he often lacks that same trait when it comes to his pitchers, relievers and starters alike. Favored versatility with position players doesn’t always work with the pitching staff. He shifts roles too often in the bullpen when stability might be a better option. He’s also had trust issues with his starting pitchers at times, most notably with Jason Hammel in 2015 and 2016. What he did with his handling of N.L. ERA leader and Cy Young finalist Kyle Hendricks late in the 2o16 postseason was criminal. To follow that up with Hendrick’s appointment as the #5 starter to begin the 2017 season only added insult to injury.
All his opening day starters were healthy the entire post season. How many playoff teams over the last decade can claim that?
It was clearly stated before the season he was going to limit starters inning throughout the year to keep them fresh for the playoffs. That’s exactly what was done.
With the exception of Rondon with a forearm injury, and Strop with a freak leg injury that had nothing to do with pitching, all his relief pitchers were healthy going into the playoffs. Overused in the season? No. We lost Joe Nathan to waivers. Crushing to be sure.
Jason Hammel’s stats clearly show he’s a first half pitcher, and declines the later in he season. Trust issue? How about trying to win the game instead of worrying about getting the guy a win? You honestly think they win game 4 of the 2015 NLDS if Hammel pitches another 2 innings? The fact they could have had veteran #5 starter quite cheap, and declined his option says a lot. So does the fact the rest of the league ignored him when free agent starting pitching class was very thin in the offseason. Someone literally had to die for the Royals to pick him up at a rate far less than his option would have been.
Sure you can criticize his use of Hendricks as in game 7. I can justify that. But he was also not going to allow the Indians any leeway when they were in their third time facing him. It’s game 7, you have them on the mat. You stomp on their throat. Hendricks is a soft contact pitcher who was giving up hard contact, regardless of the fact they were outs. You can’t play that game and win when you’re in the 5th innings. Hence pulling him for Lester. And don’t even start about what happened to Lester. The guy gave up a 12 ft swinging bunt that Ross threw away, and a freak bounce to score the two runs. Pure happenstance, and had nothing to do with Maddon’s decision. #5 starter? You’re really going to justify your argument with that? You think Hendricks cares what order he pitches in? It also was CLEARLY stated why the change was made. Matchups. God forbid he change the pitching order to try and win, instead of worrying about a guys ego and whatever label the rest of us out on him. Maybe you’d prefer if we rehire Dusty Baker who cared about such things more than winning.
Chapman? Again, I understand the criticism, but if you don’t use him in game 6, and the Indians come back, then we’re on here complaining about how he DIDNT use him. Francona got 3 full days rest out of Miller and he still gave up two runs.
But please, keep telling me I’m not a serious fan.
Joe Maddon is into his third season managing the Cubs. You need to refresh the transaction wire from 2015 in order to get the full scope of my original comment regarding his overuse of the bullpen. I have few problems with Maddon’s overall handling of the club during the 2016 regular season. His managing in the postseason is another matter all together. The thing that bothered me even more was Maddon’s unwillingness to turn the page this offseason. Instead, he continued to defend his bone-head moves at every opportunity rather than just be grateful that the Cubs were able to overcome his brain farts. His revered communication skills also came into question in the aftermath of the 2016 postseason, particularly in regards to closer Aroldis Chapman and catcher Miguel Montero.
My concern in 2017 is that he is reverting to some of the things that didn’t work so well in 2015, particularly the pitcher batting 8th regardless of their hitting acumen. I also believe that his 2017 lineup is dysfunctional in accordance with the hitting skills of it’s players, something I addressed in more detail in another comment.
My biggest concern with Maddon is his ego. Since he became manager I just can’t shake this feeling that he truly wants to be the star of the Cubs. He just doesn’t seem content to be a great manager, that somehow he has a need to re-invent this great game. I don’t need my manager to be the focus of the club. This is MLB, not the NFL or NCAA college sports.
I recall an ego-driven Chicago NFL football head coach who failed to win another Super Bowl title despite having one of the youngest and greatest defenses ever assembled in 1985. I witnessed another ego-driven manager fail to replicate a World Championship on the South Side in 2005. I’m hoping that Joe Maddon can become the next Phil Jackson with the Cubs. He has some of those “Zen-Master” qualities that resulted in 6 NBA championships for the Bulls. But instead I’m fearing another Mike Ditka or Ozzie Guillen on the North Side of town.
Ahh, so now we’re at the crux of the matter, after your actual performance opinions on the man have been disassembled. You don’t like his attitude.
Please list specific instances where he tried to be the “star”, and his players responded negatively.
You’re using waiver wire transactions to defend his “overuse” of the bullpen? Were any of the waived players actually hurt from over use? Oh, and your forgetting the fact that pitchers like Arrieta intentionally threw 40 less innings in 16 than 15 to keep them fresh for the playoffs. That plan was committed to writing in several books and articles.
How is he reinventing the game? By having guys bunt with 2 strikes a man in third and less than two outs? A play that, when executed correctly by the batter, is completely indefensible? A play that worked with a pitcher pinch hitting on 7/31/16. Did it work in game 7? No, but not because it wasn’t the correct call. It didn’t work because Baez couldn’t possibly hit Shaws cutter, and then he tried to stab a bunt down on a fat, 90mph fastball over the heart of the plate.
Perhaps you’re talking about having Rizzo play bunt defense 30 feet from the plate, while Baez covers 1st. That resulted in a double play……yesterday, and often cuts the runner at 3rd.
Communication. Does he really need to tell Montero how, specifically, he’s going to use him after an entire season? Is it the managers job to make a player happy by laying out a road map of how he’s going to be used?
Of course you’re forgetting he talked to Baez the entire series about letting the ball get deeper in the zone and hitting it to right field. How’d that work out in game 7? I forget.
Just be honest, your real problem is not that he wins, it’s how. You like old school baseball managing and because he’s the antithesis of that, you can’t stand it.
Listing all the Cubs pitching transactions from the summer of 2015, regarding the disabled list, rehab assignments, options, waiver claims, trades or releases would require more than the novels each of us has already posted on this comment board…they would necessitate a tome!
Btw-I’m hardly old school when it comes to managing techniques and Joe Maddon was hardly the first to implement any of his ideas. I was a fan of innovative managers such as Sparky Anderson, Tony La Russa and Lou Piniella. Maddon just uses some of them to extremes, like batting the pitcher in the 8th spot for an entire season…twice! The man has demonstrated time and again a stubbornness with many of his moves and won’t back down from defending some that have clearly backfired. He just can’t let go of things, kind of like a certain other executive with a far more important job who is a renown egotistical narcissist.
Then why, when he used the bullpen more in 2016, were there not more injuries? Please compare the list of waiver wire transactions of all the WS winners in the last decade, and correlate them to winning percentage, and get back to me. Until you do, and can prove it, there’s ZERO correlation.
Which decisions and strategies specifically, have a backfire rate higher than. 40%? He won 97 games playing 4 everyday players under 24, and the pitcher batting 8th. No one can call that backfiring. No one.
You tak about him trying to reinvent the game, but forget to mention he works for the front office that reinvented the statistical analysis you sometimes use to put together a lineup
Example of Maddon’s micro-managing of the bullpen. In his first season with the Cubs in 2015 he used relief pitchers 552 times, third in MLB behind the Rockies 584 and Giants at 557. He was also third in MLB with the quickest hook for his starters, trailing only the Phillies and Rockies who had far inferior starting rotations.
In 2015, the Cubs also had 4 relievers (N.Ramirez, Z.Rosscup, R. Soriano, J.Motte) who went on the disabled list between 6/17 and 8/24 for a total of 168 days. This doesn’t include 5 other DL stints earlier in the year from J.Grimm, D.Beeler, J.Turner, T.Wada along with N.Ramirez once again.
In 2016, the Cubs had the third fewest relief appearances in the NL and were in the middle of the pack in MLB. The Reds and Cardinals had fewer bullpen appearances in the NL. Of course, the Cubs also had the healthiest starting rotation of any team in MLB so in theory they should have had the fewest in the NL and perhaps even among more AL clubs.
None of the 2015 pitchers mentioned survived to make the 2016 roster except Grimm. So is it a factor of Joes managing style, or the simple fact those guys simply weren’t durable?
I’m still not seeing any correlation to bullpen use numbers, “micro-managing”, and win percentage. I suppose you’d like for him to manage pitchers like Dusty Baker, and keep them out there so they can “try and get the win”? I’d prefer him to let the team win the game.
You’re also discounting the fact he “improved” on your “micro-managing”, and used the bullpen less in 16′, all while keeping the bullpen and starters healthy. Perhaps he learned more after a year of watching his starters, perhaps he had better relievers, perhaps the massive run differential of the 16′ Cubs made his bullpen use greater. Whatever, you keep harping on bullpen use in ’15 as micro-managing, and it clearly has ZERO impact on win percentage.
Didn’t seem to bother anyone when he smashed a 3-run HR to single-handedly lead the Cubs to a win over the Cardinals in the opening series.
Yeah, an at bat only made possible because Cardinal Gold Glove catcher Yadier Molina allowed Cubs pinch hitter Matt Szczur to reach first base on a “dropped” third strike that somehow stuck to his chest protector, in plain view of everybody except him.
Through the first 9 games as a leadoff hitter, Schwarber has a triple slash of .212/.381./.455 with 2 HR’s, 5 RBI’s, 5 runs scored, 15 SO’s and 0 SB’s.
Obviously it’s early, but just putting Schwarber in a role he has never been asked to fill in his entire professional career, and likely collegiate one as well, could be negatively impacting his normal approach and potential power output. Even if it doesn’t, how many solo HR’s might Schwarber have batting leadoff in comparison to hitting behind two OBP machines like Rizzo and Bryant? I gotta believe that most MLB pitchers would be thrilled with the prospect of facing Schwarber with the bases empty more often than not as a leadoff man rather then with men on base as a middle of the order power threat.
I don’t know what world you live in that a .212/.381./.455 with 2 HR’s, 5 RBI’s, 5 runs scored, 15 SO’s and 0 SB’s through 9 games is bad. He’s doing his job, which is to get on base. He’s doing that 38% of the time. That leads to more RBI chances for Bryzzo. Honestly, you could align those three in about any order and it wouldn’t make much difference.
Plus, Schwarber only leads off once per game. His other 3 or 4 AB’s will come with runners on just as much as anyone else. And I don’t think any pitcher is thrilled about facing being guaranteed to face Scwarber, Bryant, and Rizzo all in one inning, let alone to start the ballgame.
Also, why are you even mentioning Schwarber’s SB’s? That’s not part of his game, or even part of the Cubs game. They have smart baserunners and hitters that will work counts, but not much speed.
As for Heyward, they were just trying to get his complicated swing back to a point where it was productive. If you hadn’t noticed, his year at the plate last year was brutal. With everything else he brings to the table a league average bat makes him very valuable, especially on this team.
Finally, I think I’ll trust a man that’s been in baseball for decades, taken a team in each league to the World Series, won Manager of the Year in each league, led his team to 200 wins over the last 2 regular seasons and a World Championship, plus the professional baseball statisticians and number crunchers in the Cubs world class front office over a random guy ranting on the internet.
larz:
Touche’. Well spoken ! Errant SupposeNik is becoming a real one-track troll.
Yes, the typical troll who not only provokes emotional response from his own fan base but uses his own identity in doing so. lol
Btw-Very cleverlester!
Please, please, please keep trotting Adams out to left field.
I’m not so sure using the Cubs win total is the best way to judge their lineup. Their roster is talented enough to win 90+ games with a random number generator setting the lineup every day.
Yes, or set by any of the other 29 MLB managers who are less fortunate in having to manage clubs with inferior rosters and who more than likely would have Kyle Schwarber batting in the middle of the batting order, not in the leadoff spot.
This broken record is cracked.
Doesn’t matter if he’s a better hitter, there was an emphasis on defense over the spring and Adam’s is far behind Adams in that aspect as an outfielder. Each has their strengths as hitters but Martinez’s stats in the minors, September callup, and the spring deadens that argument to a degree (power still goes to Adams). Martinez is the 4th outfielder, earned fair and square….Adams is not.
Just because other managers would do it differently doesn’t mean Maddon is wrong to have Schwarber lead off.
Why do those 3 “need” to be in the middle of the lineup? Why do other players “profile” or “belong” in a certain spot in the order? Just because things have been done a certain way for a long time doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement. If that were the case there would be no innovation, no advancement. The numbers show that you want your best hitters near the top of the order, because then they get the most plate appearances and thus the most chance to impact the game. When this team had a prototypical leadoff hitter, he led off. Now there isn’t someone who fits that mold, so Maddon has his best hitters at the top to get them the most impact. Include Zobrist and there are the 4 best hitters and they are in the first 4 spots of the lineup. It isn’t like the big three are 3 true outcome guys, either. They’re all very good at getting on base. So you aren’t losing the on base presence early on By having them up there. And the guys behind them aren’t exactly slouches at driving in runs either.
The problem that I have with Schwarber leading off is that it assures that he will bat at least once a game with nobody on base. Leadoff is the only spot in the batting order than has a certainty of no one on base at least once. To me, Zobrist is a much better choice as he has a great OBP, and less power than Schwarbs.
The problem with the Cubs 2017 lineup isn’t just relegated to the leadoff hitter. It’s dysfunctional from top to bottom. There is only one player who is currently in his most appropriate spot based on his hit tool…Anthony Rizzo in the #3 hole.
1-Kyle Schwarber is a wasted talent leading off.
2-Ditto with Kris Bryant as a #2 hitter.
3-Ben Zobrist, the ideal #2 hitter is batting cleanup.
4-Albert Almora, Jon Jay or Javier Baez batting 9th with the pitcher at #8 is silly.
Based on career numbers using traditional or advanced metrics, this would be the most logical lineup for the 2017 Cubs when Zobrist starts, typically at 2B:
1-RF Jason Heyward (L)
2-2B Ben Zobrist (S)
3-1B Anthony Rizzo (L)
4-3B Kris Bryant (R)
5-LF Kyle Schwarber (L)
6-C Willson Contreras (R)
7-SS Addison Russell (R)
8-CF Albert Almora (R)
9-PITCHER
Some fans defend Maddon’s selection of Schwarber to leadoff as a bold, out of the box move. A truly bold move would be installing Jason Heyward as the new leadoff hitter. Career wise, you would be hard pressed to find anything that former leadoff hitter Dexter Fowler could do that Heyward can’t match or exceed. Their career triple slash numbers are a near match and were virtually the same coming into the 2016 season. Heyward also strike out less and is a more efficient base stealer. Of course, defensively there is no comparison and Heyward at 27 is also 3-1/2 years younger. Most importantly, the Cubs are stuck with Heyward and his 8 yrs/$184M contract. It’s imperative to the organization that he begins justifying some of those dollars as an offensive player. The Cubs desperately need a leadoff hitter and Heyward’s career stats suggest he would be their best option. He also happens to be the best overall base runner among the position players.
Bottom line: Heyward needs to produce better offensively or there is zero chance he opts out of his mega-deal. For the good of the organization and the player, Maddon should entrust Heyward with the role of leadoff hitter. A return to his 2015 numbers with the Cardinals would net the Cubs a 3.8 oWAR leadoff man as well as a 6.5 WAR player overall. The Cubs believed they were getting that player when they inked him that mega-deal in his walk season with St.Louis. They should continue believing that a 27-old old veteran in his 8th MLB season could still achieve those metrics while also helping to solve their current lineup woes.
This makes good sense to me. I think Maddon likes to be the center of attention, and although he is a great motivator and communicator, his strategy, like in game 7, is sub-optimal.
What would have been optimal in game 7?
Agreed
Yes hope the old dog can learn change is good must keep Almora. In every day and I love Szrur but him and LaStella need to go combined : Being up Happ if Scwaber is little Babe then Happ is joe DiMaggioboth must spark are offensive bats:Hoyer get something good like a change for Kevin Rosentha he needs out of St Louis
Zoo must /should be what made him good.Being a Sub. But Almora must play CF everyday we could have 3-5 gold gloves on this team- at the end of the day soon being Happ up hate to laSella go but him and that LHP must get traded