No. 1 hitter not top issue
Cubs stress production throughout lineup over permanent leadoff man
MESA, Ariz. — After a feeble offensive performance ended the Cubs’ 2018 playoff run after only 13 innings, Jason Heyward is prepared for the scrutiny awaiting a lineup that didn’t get an anticipated overhaul in the winter.
“We’re going to get a lot of criticism,” Heyward said. “We have a lot expected of us. But nobody expects more out of us than us.”
Aside from Javier Baez, Ben Zobrist and Anthony Rizzo, the remaining position players need to reassert themselves and the Cubs’ presence in an increasingly competitiveNational League.
The quest to find the right combinations began for manager Joe Maddon at the start of spring training and will lead up to Thursday’s season opener against the Rangers.
Maddon went back to his roots as a roving hitting instructor with the Angelsby resurrectingsomeof his old drills.
Among them were firing smaller baseballs at shorter distances and placing markers in the infield and outfield during situational drills — or “opportunity hitting” in the words of new hitting coach Anthony Iapoce.
The Cubs also stopped using the designated hitter in spring training games with about two weeks left, allowing Maddon to tailor lineups for the regular season and employ the squeeze bunt with his pitchers.
But the greater task is finding a daily formula that can correct some of last season’s deficiencies. The Cubs scored one run or fewer in 39 games, stranded an NL-high 1,224 baserunners and produced a .389 slugging percentage in the second half.
The only certainty is that Kris Bryant, Rizzo and Baez will bat 2-3-4 in some order, with Bryant more likely to bat second.
Bryant’s return to health is expected to cure some of the problems that surfaced in the second half. He missed 35 games after the All-Star break because of a left shoulder bruise, and his absence resulted in the Cubs finishing 12th in the NL with 167 home runs.
But even with Bryant playing only 102 games, the Cubs led the league with a .258 batting average, tied for second with a .333 on-base percentage and finished fourth with 761 runs.
The Cubs are emphasizing production throughout the lineup more than finding a permanent leadoffhitter. Theyused 10 leadoff hitters in 2018, and the group produced a league-best .366 onbase percentage but was tied for fifth with 113 runs.
They used 11 players in that spot in 2017 after the departure in free agency of switch hitter Dexter Fowler, who stabilized the leadoff spot for two seasons and helped lead the Cubs to the 2016 World Series title.
The Cubs scored 822 runs in 2017, second to the Rockies in the NL, despite Kyle Schwarber slumping early at the top of the order and Jon Jay (51 games) and Zobrist (40) handling most of the leadoff duties.
“Forme, lineup construction, in general, is a little bit overrated,” general manager Jed Hoyer said. “The most important thing is to bat your best hitters most often. We have plenty of good hitters.
“Of course if we had a prototypical leadoffhitter that could get on base a lot and steal bases … (but) we don’t have that person on the roster. SoJoe willmake out the lineup. I’m sure guys like Zo and (Albert) Almora will probably lead off quite a bit.
“But in general, how many teams out there can say they have a prototypical leadoff guy? Not a lot. There aren’t a lot of guys out there. We don’t have one on the roster.”
For now, Almora and Zobrist are projected to share the bulk of leadoff duties. Almora averaged 3.35 pitches per plate appearance in 2018 — the lowest of any Cubs regular — but he still produced a .368 on-base percentage from the leadoff spot.
Zobrist produced a .371 on-base percentage in 140 plate appear- ances fromthe leadoff spot, but he might be more valuable as a switch hitter in the middle of the order to protect Rizzo and Baez and make late-inning pitching decisions difficult for opponents.
The Cubs also need to keep Zobrist, 37, sharp throughout the season. So they must get contributions fromnumerous resources.
“That’s the most important thing,” Hoyer said. “You lead off only once a game, and the most important thing is to have a lot of good offensive players in a deep lineup and I thinkwe have that.
“Once you get into the lineup, I think we can grind out opposing pitchers ifwe hit likewe did in the first half of last year, and that’s the key.”