Nearly each iteration of the Chicago Cubs lineup during the last seven weeks has featured the identical participant within the No. 3 spot.
Left fielder Ian Happ has been a staple in the course of the order for supervisor David Ross because the Cubs (67-61) fought their method again to .500 and are presently third within the National League wild-card place after Friday’s 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Happ’s offensive numbers are extra in keeping with his 2021 season than the stellar 2022 efficiency that earned him his first All-Star Game honor and a Gold Glove award.
Through the ups and downs of Happ’s offensive manufacturing, Ross has caught with him within the three-spot. Happ has batted third in 100 of his 123 begins, together with in 40 of his final 42. During that stretch, courting to July 6, he’s hitting .214 with a .315 on-base share whereas slugging .428. Since then as a staff, the Cubs lead the majors in runs, rank fourth in wOBA and slugging share, and tied for fifth in wRC+.
Ross cited a number of causes for persevering with to make use of Happ as their No. 3 hitter: the consistency of his at-bats no matter final result, wanting a switch-hitter batting in entrance of their greatest participant Cody Bellinger, a capability to each get on base and hit for energy, and a veteran presence.
“There’s a lot of things that you can look at from a lineup standpoint, but since we’ve been going well, Ian’s been in the three hole,” Ross mentioned Friday. “We’ve been one of the top run scoring teams in the second half in Major League Baseball and we have a top six offense in all of baseball. Why would a mess with that? If it ain’t broke don’t fix it kind of thing, right?”
Ross talked about Christopher Morel as an choice when he’s scorching, nevertheless, Morel has been in a funk recently and doesn’t generate the identical stage of on-base consistency Ross desires in entrance of Bellinger. Jeimer Candelario presents some similarities to Happ’s hitter profile, together with being a switch-hitter, however Ross likes how Candelario has thrived in his position since becoming a member of the group earlier than the commerce deadline, deepening the decrease half of the order.
“What’s it do to the team dynamic? What’s it do to the confidence of a guy? Consistency from a manager and belief in a player never really gets talked about enough and I believe in those things outside of just performance,” Ross mentioned.
“There’s a lot that goes into believing in your guys through good and bad, and Ian has shown me over the time being his manager that he’s going to go through some moments of just not being his best, but he’s going to come out the other side because he’s consistent in his attitude and his work.”
Happ hasn’t felt utterly locked in on the plate recently, saying it comes and goes. His residence run in Friday’s loss marked his fifteenth of the yr and fifth in August, probably the most he’s hit in a month this season.
“I’ve had some good at-bats, I’ve hit some balls hard right at people — there’s been a lot of that,” Happ mentioned Friday night time. “A little bit frustrating I’m not getting on base as much as I want in the last few weeks. Been walking a lot before that, so that’s normalized a little bit, but I think the last couple days, just having better at-bats, seeing it better, controlling the strike zone a little bit. It’s a good starting point.”
When it involves lineup development, Ross described his philosophy as discovering a technique to win. During Happ’s prolonged keep as their No. 3 hitter, the Cubs have gone 27-15. For now, Ross has seen sufficient from Happ and the offense’s collective efficiency to maintain the important thing spots on the prime of the order largely the identical.
“Players’ comfort level matters, what’s best for the team matters,” Ross mentioned. “Being a big-league supervisor isn’t all the time simply taking a look at numbers and saying this could make sense. Maybe it simply is working and there’s not a complete lot of logic to it and I feel that comes from the human.
“The cliché is I’m not managing robots. These guys are human, they have heartbeats. They have thoughts, they have confidence. They have insecurities, things that they worry about, and my job is to try to work through that as best I can and also talk through changes if I think they need to be made.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com