‘ O’ woes start with Rizzo
ST. LOUIS — The Cubs have found little rhythm, rhyme or reason to their hitting so far this season.
They’ve scored eight or more runs nine times, two or fewer runs 12 times and Saturday against the Cardinals ended a streak of nine games in a row without scoring more than three runs.
They’ve used four leadoff hitters and six No. 3 hitters and have had their two best hitters — Kris Bryant and
Anthony Rizzo — in the lineup together in only 18 of the 30 games they’ve played.
‘‘ You can’t discount what [ Rizzo] and Kris mean in the heart of that lineup,’’ hitting coach Chili Davis said.
In particular, Rizzo’s early- season slump has had a ripple effect through the lineup. Even after a two- hit afternoon that included a home run, he’s hitting only .187 with a .594 OPS. More telling is that he has drawn only four walks, none since April 20.
‘‘ That tells me he’s putting bad pitches in play,’’ manager Joe Maddon said. ‘‘ When guys get off to a slow start numerically, they have a tendency to want to get back to a bigger number fast . . . and try to get hits, as opposed to just working good at- bats.
‘‘ I talked to him about it. He gets it. He’s going to be fine. He’s going to put his regular numbers up.’’
Rizzo does have three homers in the Cubs’ last four games, his first since the season opener. But he downplayed any changes in his approach or differences in how he feels at the plate.
‘‘ I wish I could say there’s something different,’’ he said. ‘‘ But it’s just baseball. You have ups and downs.’’
Taking the ‘ E’ out of Baez?
The Cubs’ most skilled defensive infielder is off to an uncharacteristically fast start offensively but an inexplicably rough start in the field.
‘‘ This year I’ve been hotter at the plate, but I’ve still got to work on my defense,’’ said Baez, whose eighth error of the season Friday led to three unearned runs in a 3- 2 loss.
Just 30 games into the season, Baez already is more than halfway to his career high in errors ( 15). He vowed to clean it up.
‘‘ There’s been a lot of errors that are [ on] routine [ plays], and that can’t be happening,’’ he said.
‘‘ I do think this is an anomaly moment,’’ Maddon said. ‘‘ He’s one of the best defenders in all of baseball. Stuff happens.’’
Perp walks
Right- hander Tyler Chatwood is by far the biggest perpetrator of walks on a pitching staff that ranks among the worst in baseball at 4.4 per game.
His five against the Cardinals raised his major- league- leading total to 27 and marked the fourth time in six starts he has walked at least five. It was a big part of the reason he lasted only one batter into the fifth.
‘‘ It’s a simple fix for me,’’ said Chatwood, who wouldn’t reveal the mechanical flaw that he has been fighting to correct in games. ‘‘ In my bullpens, I’ve proved I can do it. It’s just a matter of taking it into the game and doing it. You’ve just got to trust it.’’
This and that
A scoring change after the game charged shortstop Addison Russell with an error for allowing a throw to second by Rizzo to get past him as a run scored in the fourth. The error initially was charged to Rizzo.
Right fielder Jason Heyward’s single in the second snapped a seasonhigh 0- for- 12 skid.
Setup man Carl Edwards Jr.’ s 1- 2- 3 eighth ( two strikeouts) extended his scoreless streak to 12 appearances.