Cubs right fielder Seiya Suzuki looking to pick up where he left off last season
Somewhat lost in the Cubs' frustrating late fade last season was Seiya Suzuki's impressive rise.
After being limited to 111 games due to a nagging finger injury in 2022, his first season with the Cubs, Suzuki missed most of spring training last year with an oblique strain.
The right fielder also sat out the first two weeks of the season and he pulled into the all-star break hitting a so-so .259/.342/.405 with 7 home runs and 28 RBI over 71 games.
In the second half, Suzuki came alive.
From Aug. 18 until the end of the season, he ranked second in the National League in extra-base hits (26) and hits (56) and was third in doubles (14).
During the closing surge, Suzuki batted .361 and had 9 homers and 33 RBI.
Watching from the Brewers' dugout, new Cubs manager Craig Counsell had plenty of opportunities to see Suzuki do damage.
“The one thing I saw last year is, as the season went on, Seiya became a very dangerous hitter,” Counsell said. “There were stretches where he was a scary, scary bat in the lineup and someone that you had to be really careful with. I think he keeps taking steps forward as a hitter in the major leagues.”
On Friday, Baseball America published a list of six breakout hitters in MLB poised for big seasons.
Along with Twins third baseman Royce Lewis, Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas, Rangers outfielders Evan Carter and Wyatt Langford and Tigers second baseman Colt Keith, Suzuki is on the list.
“Suzuki hit .354/.412/.669 with 11 home runs in his final 48 games last season,” Baseball America wrote. “He seemed to make an adjustment that hints at the outfielder having figured something out. In his age-29 season, Suzuki could emerge as an all-star.”
Entering the third season of a five-year, $85 million contract, Suzuki is being paid pretty big money to perform.
What finally clicked in the second half of last season?
“It was just about creating a plan beforehand and making sure I completed those tasks every day,” Suzuki told cubs.com through an interpreter. “Prior to that, it was more of I’d get to the field and I’d kind of decide at that point what I want to do. But I know when things were going well for me, it was just creating things beforehand.
“That really helped me mentally. I finished off the season pretty strong last year. I’ve been able to continue that same type of feeling that I had when I finished the season. I feel like I still have that same mentality coming into this season. I’m just really excited for what’s ahead.”
It's never wise to read too much into spring training numbers, but Suzuki is tearing it up in the Cactus League.
The right-handed hitter was 3-for-3 with 2 home runs in Saturday's game against the Royals, raising his exhibition slash line to a sizzling .444/.481/.920.
With less than two weeks before the regular season begins, Counsell is still tinkering with the Cubs' lineup.
Suzuki has been regularly hitting out of the No. 2 spot and it's looking like he'll stay there.
“It’s the most dangerous hitter because there are hits in there and there is damage,” Counsell said. “That always means, ‘What do we do?’ It leaves less options for pitchers. The damage scares pitchers when you’re game-planning. When you’re starting to say about a hitter, ‘Well, this is where he can’t hurt you,’ but you know you’re going to give up hits, that’s a good hitter. That’s where Seiya got to at the end of last year.”
Fremd High School grad Mike Tauchman and Patrick Wisdom are options to play right field when Suzuki is not in the lineup.