McKnight: Rizzo's hot bat needs more support

After each game, win or lose, reporters do at least three things.

First, they talk to the manager. Then they talk to the starting pitcher. Then they wander into the clubhouse and ask themselves, "Who mattered tonight?"

In a stretch like the Cubs are in, where it feels like it's just one guy, it can get a little tedious.

I'm sure it's a little repetitive - if not a flat-out drag - for Anthony Rizzo to keep shrugging his shoulders and supporting his guys. He means it when he says he has faith in his teammates. There's no doubt about that. He means it when he says things will turn around.

For the last 15 games or so, his teammates have watched him answer the same questions about the same problem. Why isn't this team hitting?

Rizzo has been magnificent. For two weeks (May 25 to June 5) he has hit .361/.465/.722. He has hit only two home runs in that stretch, but if you pair that with 4 strikeouts in 36 at bats, I think you'll join me in giving him a pass.

While RBI can't measure a player's full value, it's worth noting that Rizzo has had just 5 RBI in that same span. So, when manager Joe Maddon says he'll show some faith in Dexter Fowler and keep him at the top of the order, it's worth asking, "Why?"

Fowler's hitting under .180 with an on-base percentage just over .200 in those same 10 games. All that, and he has led the team in appearances in the leadoff spot. Maddon isn't blessed with a ton of options for the top of the order, however.

I don't feel like adding any pressure to Addison Russell's workload while he continues to get situated at the Big League level. His on-base percentage this season sits right around .300, but has picked up about 25 points in the last two weeks.

Starlin Castro's struggles have alarmed plenty of fans. Maddon gave him a day off Saturday with the hope that it clears his head. Castro is seeing 3.85 pitches per plate appearance. That's not terrible. And for what it's worth, ties him with the likes of David Freese and Josh Donaldson.

But his relative patience isn't paying off when he makes contact. His soft contact rate (23.4 percent via FanGraphs.com) sits in the top 15 of all hitters. What's perhaps more frightening is that he's hitting ground balls at a much higher rate than ever before. In his first five seasons, Castro's ground ball to fly ball ratio was 1.58. So far in 2015, it's 2.44. Nearly a point higher.

That math is easy. It's near impossible to score runs on softly hit ground balls.

So while some look to an upcoming seven games in AL parks as a chance to add a DH and perhaps call up Javier Baez or Kyle Schwarber to give the offense a shot in the arm, what's needed is for the established veterans on this team to get back to producing.

• Connor McKnight can be heard regularly on WGN 720-AM and is a co-host of The Beat, the station's sports talk show on the weekends. Follow him on Twitter @McKnight_WGN