Maddon not worried about Cubs' defense
MILWAUKEE - The Cubs entered Saturday tied with Washington for last in the National League in fielding percentage and were 1 error behind the Nats for worst in the league.
Shortstop Starlin Castro and second baseman Addison Russell each committed an error in the early going of Saturday evening's game against the Brewers.
However, Cubs manager Joe Maddon is looking beyond the raw numbers.
"We lead the league in errors, which really surprises me because our defense is not that bad," Maddon said. "Sometimes that can be a misleading stat regarding just purely making errors. I think we've made a lot of plays, too, and I'm really pleased with that.
"We're playing the game so well. We've made some physical errors. I don't care. The mental errors really have been at a minimum for me. At-bats? We lead the league in pitches seen. Take it.
"We have not pitched out our level yet. If we were pitching to our level, easily I could imagine 3 or 4 more wins. That's going to happen. I'm really encouraged by everything I've seen right now."
Heaping praise:
Joe Maddon was still gushing about rookie Kris Bryant beating out an infield hit Friday night. That hit drove in what proved to be the needed run as the Cubs held on for a 7-6 victory.
It was not only that Bryant beat the ball out. It was how he did it that had Maddon happy.
"He channeled his inner Andrew McCutchen last night," Maddon said, referring to the Pittsburgh Pirates star. "I was effusively happy. It speaks volumes of your whole organization. We win the game last night because of that.
"I'm hoping almost all of our minor league guys got a chance to see that. The other part, that nobody even talked about, check out the replay where he hit the bag with his foot. If he doesn't hit the front of the bag, we would have been out."
Mix it up:
Closer Hector Rondon said he would be able to bounce back from Friday night's scary outing, in which he threw 32 pitches (17 strikes) and allowed 3 runs in the ninth inning.
"Yeah, because I come in with more intensity," he said. "I want to pitch. I want to do the best I can. I think that happens to everybody."
Joe Maddon said Rondon had trouble because of fastball command and overuse of the pitch.
"No. 1, he just got wild with his fastball," Maddon said. "I already talked to Miggy (catcher Miguel Montero) about that. One of the primary rules as a catcher with the pitcher is never let your pitcher get wild with his fastball.
"I think he threw like 19 (fastballs) in a row in the first part of that inning. He's got an outstanding slider, as you saw him strike out (Gerardo) Parra with. Sometimes it's more about pitch selection than it is about mechanical things."