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Otto: Chicago Cubs' depth, versatility on display

With the Chicago Cubs' regular season at the quarter mark, it is starting to look more like the building of a really good season and not just a fast start.

Sure, five-game losing streaks are out there and almost inevitable. It is the way that this team goes about its business day in and day out that is really starting to stand out.

Nowhere is it more evident than in the way the offense has consistently attacked opposing pitchers. It seems each Cubs hitter steps into the box with a plan of either looking for a particular pitch or a pitch in a particular zone.

If that pitch happens to be the first pitch in an at-bat, though, Cubs hitters are hacking.

To be that patient at the plate, hitters can't be afraid to hit with two strikes. Ben Zobrist, Anthony Rizzo and the rest look downright comfortable hitting with two strikes. They just don't swing at many pitches out of the zone.

When an opposing pitcher isn't getting many swings on pitches out of the zone from the Cubs, watch out.

Credit goes to hitting coach John Mallee and the rest of the staff in working with each hitter on a plan of attack. It has become extremely unusual for an opposing starting pitcher to have thrown fewer than 100 pitches at the 5-inning mark. Seeing more pitches per at-bat doesn't always translate into basehits, but it sure helps.

From a pitcher's perspective, you just don't want a lineup to see every pitch in your arsenal too early in the game.

Former Cub Jon Lieber was one of the best in the business at saving his pitches. His outpitch was a nasty slider, and he would not show that pitch until he absolutely had to.

If Lieber could get by early in the game with just throwing the fastball, he would. And then later, with the game on the line, the hitters would see something altogether different.

Extra Innings:

The Cubs won the battle Tuesday night in Milwaukee, and it took them 13 innings to get it done. Extra-inning games are much more enjoyable to watch as an interested observer. For the players, it is a high-wire act. Particularly when you are the visiting team, and one bad pitch or error means the end of the game.

In typical Joe Maddon fashion, he pulled out all the stops when faced with bases loaded and nobody out in the 12th. The Cubs' manager brought in Kris Bryant from left field as the fifth infielder. In a scene out of "Sandlot," Bryant at one point swapped gloves with Javier Baez.

Travis Wood made some big-time pitches to get out of the 12th, and the Cubs won it in the 13th. In the end, Maddon used every position player and seven relievers. The only reliever who didn't pitch was Trevor Cahill.

But Maddon did manage to get Cahill into the game as a pinch hitter in the 11th. Despite all the pressure on these players to perform, there is a sense that this team is out there having some fun and being led by a truly unique manager in Maddon.

Perhaps the wins will pile up this season for the Cubs, and that game will become a distant memory. Tuesday's game, though, showed just how versatile and deep this Cubs team is.

• Dave Otto, a standout athlete at Elk Grove High School, pitched from 1987-1994 for four MLB teams, including the Cubs. A former baseball analyst for WGN Radio, FoxSportsNet and Comcast SportsNet Chicago, Otto also is a member of the University of Missouri Hall of Fame.

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