With October drawing near, the Cubs need Seiya Suzuki back in his comfort zone

With its dim lighting, leather couches and rectangular layout, Coors Field’s visiting clubhouse feels more like a man cave than a baseball sanctuary. There, at a round table, Seiya Suzuki and Shota Imanaga sat across from each other, chatting while eating their postgame dinners.

For years, the Chicago Cubs made strategic international investments to create that kind of scene last weekend in Denver. One of the best teams in Major League Baseball has two accomplished Japanese players in the prime of their careers. At once, the moment came across as both ordinary and striking.

“The conversation itself, it’s not that important,” Suzuki said through an interpreter. “But just having another guy around, being able to talk to somebody like Shota, I think it just lifts my spirits up. It does make it easier.”

Those glimpses are harder to see at Wrigley Field, where a $1 billion renovation project moved the clubhouse underground, adding more off-limits areas that are not visible to the media. Starting pitchers and everyday players also run on different schedules, which can sometimes limit their interactions.

Although the Rockies’ on-field product is historically bad, the franchise has effectively maintained Coors Field as one of the National League’s older ballparks and more popular tourist destinations. Since the stadium’s opening 30 years ago, its visiting clubhouse has retained some charming old-school vibes.

Those timeless, simple elements of a 162-game season — sharing a meal and unwinding after a long workday — shouldn’t be taken for granted. The Cubs spent years establishing relationships in Japan, scouting waves of talent abroad, and listening to agents and players for feedback.

Including interpreter Edwin Stanberry, Cubs manager Craig Counsell counted five Japanese speakers in the club’s traveling party. Counsell also mentioned Shingo Murata, an analytics staffer in Chicago’s front office, as another resource at Wrigley Field.

“So the media isn’t the only people they have to talk to,” Counsell said in a good-natured tone while gesturing at a longtime, respected Japanese reporter. “No offense.”

“I think we would all say that would make us more comfortable,” Counsell said. “Shota certainly helps, because he is having the most common experiences to Seiya. But I think the other people speaking the language helps significantly as well.”

Suzuki’s comfort level has been an ongoing story ever since the Cubs aggressively recruited him after MLB’s lockout ended in 2022. The total cost of the five-year contract approached $100 million when factoring in the posting fee owed to Suzuki’s Japanese club, a sizable commitment that made him a building block for what president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer envisioned as “The Next Great Cubs Team.”

That deal was absolutely worth it. Suzuki’s total production has already exceeded $83 million, according to FanGraphs’ dollars to WAR metric, and he’s set new career highs in home runs (27) and RBI (89) this year.

Suzuki’s last home run, though, came on Aug. 6. He notched his 77th RBI over Fourth of July weekend. With the Cubs closing in on their first playoff berth since 2020, getting him locked in again will be a priority.

As Imanaga, the All-Star pitcher, said through an interpreter, “He’s one of those players who has such a presence when he’s hitting.”

Within the clubhouse that is a consensus opinion. Suzuki is naturally gifted and physically imposing. He has a strong work ethic and a disciplined offensive approach that is close to an organizational ideal.

“Obviously, you’re stepping up in the box and trying to do damage,” Suzuki said. “Recently, either those are getting caught, or that just hasn’t happened. I’m not trying to be greedy. Get the singles, get on base, and then pass it to the next hitter.”

To his credit, Suzuki posted a robust .375 on-base percentage in August while working through those issues. He also hasn’t spent a day on the injured list this season, appearing in 134 out of 140 games thus far, demonstrating another level of durability.

Chicago’s offensive issues certainly aren’t limited to Suzuki, either. All-Star outfielders Kyle Tucker and Pete Crow-Armstrong recently spent time on the bench for mental resets. The Cubs enjoyed a great start this year when their best hitters all fed off each other’s performances. When the top of the lineup struggled as a group, that dragged things down in the opposite direction.

“Seiya, at times, can go back and forth, getting in between on pitches,” hitting coach Dustin Kelly said. “It’s kind of where sometimes he falls. The default for him is just getting back on time with the fastball. Look to do damage and drive the ball in the air to the pull-side gap.

“There are some sinkers that have gotten in on him. He’s had some tough luck. Everybody that watches these games realizes that it seems like there’s one or two pitches that don’t go his way. And sometimes that’s (mentally) defeating, too.”

At the start of spring training, Suzuki expressed that he wanted better communication with his manager, an interesting observation considering the Cubs floated the idea of working around his no-trade clause last off-season, and his preferred role would not be as a full-time designated hitter.

Entering his second season with the Cubs, Counsell acknowledged he could improve in that area, unequivocally telling reporters: “Sometimes, the language barrier makes you lazy, unfortunately. That’s on me. I got to get way better at that. And will. That’s something that I promised Seiya.”

When reminded of that back and forth, Counsell focused on how they are “a year into a relationship, getting a little better at it, and then knowing each other a little better.”

“I’m proud of Seiya for how the season’s went, how available he’s been,” Counsell said. “I know that was a goal for him. He’s done a great job of it. He’s hitting in the middle of the lineup. He’s an impactful player on one of the better teams in baseball.”

The best version of that Cubs team has Suzuki launching home runs, doing silly celebrations with Crow-Armstrong in the dugout and hanging out with Imanaga in quieter moments. With 22 games remaining in the regular season, and their playoff odds hovering near 100%, the Cubs have the luxury of running their team out there until something clicks again.

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