Cubs' Maddon not concerned about Hammel

Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon said he was going to talk with pitcher Jason Hammel about making some adjustments after Hammel lasted just 3 innings in Tuesday night's 10-8 to the Detroit Tigers.

According to Maddon, it might be that less is more.

“After the first inning, he was probably throwing the ball probably harder than he had in awhile,” Maddon said Wednesday. “I think that actually works against him. I think he needs to back off and make better pitches with less velocity, with more effective velocity. When he does that, he's going to be fine.”

Hammel had been dealing with a hamstring problem, but he said he's feeling fine.

“For whatever reason, mechanically, just execution wise, I haven't been getting the ball down in the zone,” he said. “We'll go back to the drawing board.”

Hammel and right-hander Kyle Hendricks are two Cubs starters working through mechanical issues.

“If there were health issues, I'd be more concerned,” Maddon said. “There are no health issues. That would be my greater concern. During the course of the year, you're always going to go through some struggles.

“I think Jason's very fixable. I think Kyle's very fixable. I've used the word ‘competing' before. Danny Haren competes as well as anyone. The guy's a tremendous competitor. So I have a lot of faith in him, too. I really think we can work through the issues of Jason and Kyle easily.”

Maddon said his message to Hendricks is: “Trust yourself and pitch to contact. That's who you are.”

He's adjusting:

Left fielder-catcher Kyle Schwarber is making the adjustments, both at the plate and in the field.

Schwarber was mad at himself for not coming up with a flyball Tuesday. But he also threw out a runner at home plate.

At bat, the rookie seems to be adjusting well to what major-league pitchers are throwing at him.

“It does get better,” he said of the caliber of pitching he's facing compared with the minor leagues. “Obviously, this is the big leagues. There are adjustments I'm going to have to make. It's always something to work on every day to get me better.”

Getting better is something all of the Cubs' rookies should get, according to Joe Maddon.

“If you like what we're doing right now, understand these are really young, inexperienced major-league baseball players,” he said. “In my mind's eye, I'm looking at what it's going to look like a year or two from now when they maybe understand all of it. That's what's really exciting.”