Another lineup change pays off for Cubs
Joe Maddon made another leap of faith with his lineup Saturday and wound up landing in a pile of gold.
This time, the Cubs manager put free-swinging Javier Baez into the leadoff spot, and right from the get-go, the move paid dividends.
Baez tripled to right field in the bottom of the first inning, sparking a 4-run outburst as the Cubs eventually held on to beat the White Sox 8-4 at Wrigley Field in a game delayed 2 hours, 15 minutes at the start by rain.
Anthony Rizzo hit a 3-run homer in the first. After that, Baez had a second-inning single and used his hand-deke movement to steal second base. Playing third base, he also made a nice catch of a popup at the dugout, right in front of the TV cameras.
This guy is show time in all phases of the game, in whatever sport it may be.
"He's an exciting point guard," said Maddon, whose team won its fifth in a row to improve to 21-15. "You got to keep your eye on him. He's Tiny Archibald, Norm Van Lier. You got to watch him. He could have that impact anywhere - in the box, running the bases, making a tag, making a play, catching a popup in the dugout and smiling for the cameras.
"He does it. I saw all of that. He's just on cue all the time."
Even so, Baez sounded like a reluctant leading man. He has batted low in the order this year and as high as second but not first in 2018.
"Um, I don't mind it," he said with some hesitation. "It feels weird, but I see more pitches. I get a lot more ABs. Yeah, sure, I don't mind it."
For the second day in a row, the Cubs jumped on the White Sox early. They scored 5 in the first inning Friday and put up 4 against veteran James Shield to begin Saturday's ballgame. Rizzo's 3-run homer was his sixth of the season and his fifth in May. The Cubs batted around, with rookie No. 8 hitter David Bote adding an RBI single.
Starting pitcher Jon Lester fell one out short of qualifying for a quality start, as he lasted 5⅔ innings. But he did earn the win to improve to 3-1 with a 2.66 ERA.
Lester also knows a little about showmen, so he has some perspective when it comes to rating players like Baez, exciting as he may be.
"You forget I played with David Ortiz," Lester said, referring to his former Boston Red Sox teammate. "He's Big Papi for a reason. But Javy's up there. Javy obviously plays a position. David didn't have the flair in the infield, nor did we want him there, but I've never seen a stadium stop as much as I have when David would come on deck.
"People always want to give these guys this superstar status. David was a superstar, and there was a reason why he was. Javy, I think, can be there one day. I think he has the flair. He knows the game better than a lot of guys give him credit for. He's just so smart, and he's so athletic that he can make up for mistakes, and I think that's where you see the swim move (stealing the base), running the bases. The game just looks easy to him when he's out there. I think he has definitely that potential to be that guy."