After slow start, Rizzo finally getting closer to career numbers
Little by little Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo is inching toward a season in which his stats will resemble those on the back of his baseball card.
Rizzo has been amazingly consistent over the past four seasons beginning in 2014, with 32, 31, 32 and 32 homers, respectively. The RBI totals the past three seasons, beginning in 2015, were 101, 109 and 109, respectively.
This year, he hit .158 in April but he has come on recently. He is up to 21 home runs and 83 RBI.
"He came in and spoke to me earlier this year when things weren't going well," said manager Joe Maddon. "And I tried to reassure him that they're going to go well. At that moment I said, 'I'm going to write down right now, and I'm going to show you at the end of the year what your numbers are going to look like.' So I wrote the numbers down a couple months ago. I just have to remember where I put them. But I did do that to just tell him that, 'This is what I totally believe you're going to look like by the end of the season,' which it's starting to look like right now."
Instead of moving Rizzo down in the order, Maddon has used him as a leadoff man, recently returning him back to the middle of the order.
"Tough start, very difficult start," the manager said. "Got jump-started by hitting first. We've got him back in the order a little bit again. But he's good. He's really good. When a guy that good struggles that much, you know there's a lot owed to him by the end of the season. I felt good about that. And if this all shows up at the right time, I'll take it."
Something completely different:
Lefty Cole Hamels tossed the Cubs' first complete game of the season Thursday night in a 7-1 win over the Reds.
In 5 starts with the Cubs, Hamels is 4-0 with an 0.79 ERA. According to STATS, Hamels is the first lefty in the live-ball era to go at least 5 innings and allow no more than 1 run in each of his first 5 appearances for any team.
Joe Maddon liked the complete game.
"When a guy does what Cole did, I think that inspires the rest of the group," Maddon said. "I'm a big believer that when you get a starting pitcher able to throw a complete game, I think that elevates him, and I think it elevates those pitchers around him also. I know in today's world, I don't know if it's frowned upon, but it's almost discouraged. I still believe in it."
Heyward hobbled:
Outfielder Jason Heyward did not start for a second straight game. Joe Maddon said Heyward's left ankle has left ankle "bothering him a little bit. It's something he's been really fighting through for a bit."
Third baseman Kris Bryant did some early work but was not able to hit on the field because of morning rain. He is recovering from a left-shoulder injury.