Boras confident Russell will be cleared
PHOENIX — The agent for Cubs shortstop Addison Russell believes his client “absolutely” will be cleared by Major League Baseball of allegations of domestic violence.
But MLB’s investigation remains “ongoing,” according to league officials, more than two months after Russell was accused in a thirdparty Instagram post of physically abusing his wife.
It’s unclear why the process has taken this long without reaching a resolution or a secondary investigative phase involving the union. Russell’s wife said through an attorney two weeks after her friend posted the allegation that she had declined to talk to MLB about the issue.
Russell and his wife filed for divorce separately in June.
A Sun- Times search of police and court records in Florida and Chicago in June failed to turn up any legal action against Russell.
“I believe in these types of events that we’ve done our due diligence, and they have to take their time to do theirs,” agent Scott Boras said of MLB officials. “And we’re just awaiting their process.”
Russell, who is on the disabled list with a foot injury, remained in Chicago to rehab.
An All- Star last year, Russell has struggled this season, hitting .241 with 10 homers and a .305 onbase percentage.
“The game is difficult, and your personal life is a part of management of what you do as a professional athlete,” Boras said of how Russell has handled the accusation and outside scrutiny. “Each athlete has a barometer for it, and certainly our advice to Addison has been that, no different than a lot of professionals, you have to really know how to focus when your hand touches the locker room door, and try to take from that what you’ve learned about your performance and your career and be myopic for that timeframe.
“And then you can at the end of the day take whatever time is needed for you to make advances in your personal life.”
Gimme a break!
The Cubs and Cardinals will have their All- Star break squeezed by a day next year after being scheduled for a nationally televised Thursday night game, and manager Joe Maddon doesn’t like it.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea; I’ll say that,” he said, adding he had no say in it. “I have no idea how it’s going to play out; I just like the idea of four consecutive days off. You saw what it did for us this year. … I’d prefer the four consecutive days off.”
Next season’s schedule isn’t expected to be released until next month, but the Cubs know their last series before the 2018 break is in San Diego. The addition of the lone game Thursday night, two days after the All- Star Game, was first reported by the St. Louis Post- Dispatch.
Leadoff carousel
Albert Almora, who entered Saturday hitting .346 with a .976 OPS against left- handers, became the Cubs’ 10th leadoff hitter this season.
“It is unusual,” Maddon said of the high number of leadoff men since Dexter Fowler left as a free agent. “But I’m OK [ with it]. The guys have all responded to it pretty well.”
Subtracting the failed six- week leadoff experiment with Kyle Schwarber, the other Cub leadoff men combined to hit .251 with a .322 on- base percentage, .784 OPS and 50 runs scored.