BLAME THE BATS ON 2020?
The Cubs are about to finish their worst offensive season ever atWrigley Field.
With oneweek remaining in the 2020 season, the true magic number for the Chicago Cubs is still at zero.
That’s the number of positive COVID-19 tests fromCubs players, a perfect score for a perfectly imperfect season and a testament to their commitment to following MLB’s health and safety protocols.
The Cubs can take pride in that, especially knowing they did it while going through an anxiety-ridden, two-month grind that has them in prime position for theNo. 2 or 3 seed in the National League postseason.
In a season that defied labeling, there’s nowhere else they’d rather be.
But one glaring deficiency they’ve battled from the outset is a consistent inability to hit— particularly atWrigley Field. The Cubs’ overall .226 batting average heading into Sunday night’s home finale against the Minnesota Twinswas fourth-worst in the majors, and their .218 home averagewas better only than the SeattleMariners’ .212 average at Safeco Field.
It’s an ongoingmystery that no one, including managerDavid Ross and President Theo Epstein, can explain.
This year’s group will finish with by far the lowest average in the ballpark’s 106-year history, a headscratching problem that could doom the Cubs if it carries into the wild-card
round.
For fanswatching on TV, it’s almost incomprehensible. Even some of theworst teams in Cubs history have put up decent offensive seasons atWrigley, making them tolerable in lean years. What makes it even more puzzling: Some of the worst offenders are Kris Bryant (.197, one home run, two RBIs), Anthony Rizzo (.189, four homers, 11 RBIs), Javier Baez (.172, two homers, seven RBIs) andKyle Schwarber (.176, five homers, 11 RBIs).
All but Schwarber have been All-Stars, while BryantwasNational League MVPin 2016 and Baez finished second to the Milwaukee Brewers’ Christian Yelich inMVPvoting two years ago.
The co-founders of Bryzzo Inc. met with Baez
and Schwarber on Tuesday to discuss their collective woes in what Rizzo described as a “very organic” meeting.
“Rizz came to me and a few other guys in the lineup thatweren’t really hot,” Baez said.“We talked about it. Obviously Iwas on the same page, but leaders knowwhat they’re doing. It was just about us four, or us five, trying to make adjustments for the team, not for our numbers.
“We’re still going to struggle or not get the results, but at leastwe’re trying. We’reworking on something.”
The Big Four of the Cubs lineup have accepted the fact this season isn’t going to look good on the backof their baseball cards. Bryant talked about “surrendering to what this season is,”
knowing they can’t make up the numbers in such a short time.
“It’s a matter of accepting what is and having fun with it,” he said.
Rizzo said the meeting was therapeutic in nature.
“It’s easy to feel isolated,” he said. “No one in our clubhouse has felt that or has been acting thatway. It’s just good to always talk about it and continue to talk about it together and be together on it.”
Rizzo noted IanHapp, Willson Contreras and JasonHeyward have “carried us the whole year,” and he said itwas time for the four kings to pull their weight. They reminded each other howgood they are in normal times— and howgood they still can be in the postseason.
“Knowing when our
whole lineup comes together, we’re really scary,” Rizzo said.“We’ve seen Kris carry our team for a long stretch. We’ve seen Schwarber do it. We’ve seen Javy do it, andmyself. … A couple of us get hot and heat up at the right time, that’s what it’s all about.”
Misery loves company, the saying goes. At least the four Cubs players can be satisfied knowing the team haswonwithout them making significant offensive contributions. It says a lot about the team’s pitching, of course, and the ability of Ross to get them to this point with so many key pieces in a season-long slump.
Baez, who is striking out in 33.5% of his at-bats with a .246 on-base percentage — the lowest of any qualified hitter— said the criticism doesn’t matter, “no matter what you say, no matter what the situation is.”
“It doesn’t bother us when somebody says something you don’t like,” he said.“We take it andwe make the adjustment as (necessary).”
Back in spring training, Baez and Bryantwere buoyant and confident, knowing theywere among the fewMLB players who could make upward of $250 million when they became free agents after 2021.
Rizzo spoke excitedly about 2020 being a possible “last hurrah” for the survivors of the 2016 core, knowing they could all be on the block if the season went haywire.
Despite their seasons of discontent, they’ve remained upbeat and outwardly confident about their ability to snap out of it. In this first season of Zoom interviews, in which any struggling player can hide fromthe media by refusing to participate, they’ve all been available and accountable.
“My attitude doesn’t change,” Baez said. “Because I’m struggling, I’m not going to come in draggingmy feet into the clubhouse. I’m the same guy every day. I’m a happy guy. No matter what happens in the game, when I get in the shower, I’m a normal person.”
Nowwith the regular season ending and their awful stat lines unavoidable, perhaps they can simply chalk it up to
“2020,” as many of us do whenever something inexplicably goes wrong this year.
“Whenwe look back on this season, it’s not going to be about your numbers,” Bryant said. “It’s going to be about howwe came together as a group and got through something that was a crazy time, a crazy time thatwe’re living in.”