CHICAGO — Before Game 1 of the NLCS, I wrote about Jason Heyward’s epic playoff struggles at the plate. We won’t rehash the whole thing here, but essentially I said it’s time for the Cubs to stop giving regular at-bats to a player who is now 7-for-63 in the postseason in two years with Chicago, including an 0-for-3 showing in Game 2 after sitting out the NLCS opener.
The Cubs lost both games in Los Angeles, scoring a grand total of three runs. During Monday’s workout-day news conference at Wrigley Field, I asked Maddon this: “Jason’s been very good in the field, but he’s struggled at the plate. How do you balance that when you’re making out your lineup?”
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“Yeah, you're right because he's so …,” Maddon pauses for a moment, an almost pained look on this face, before continuing his thought. “Imagine, you're standing in the dugout right now in that little corner that I stand in, you look out on the field and you see Jason in right, and you see Javy (Baez) at second. How good does that make you feel? And you've seen yesterday that game wouldn’t have been nearly 1-1, whatever, if the defense hadn't played the defense they did. Our defense was great yesterday.”
Heyward and Baez both made outstanding defensive plays in Game 2, and Maddon’s right. If not for the glovework of those two, that game could have very easily gotten away from the Cubs early, instead of being tied, 1-1, heading into the ninth.
Here’s the dilemma, though: Baez is 0 for 19 in the postseason. Heyward is 2 for 15. Heck, Cubs pitchers are 2 for 12 so far in the playoffs.
When outs are at so much of a premium, it’s hard to have three spots in the lineup where the Cubs are getting zero production. Those two aren’t the only Cubs struggling, of course. Anthony Rizzo is 4 for 26 this postseason. Kris Bryant is 5 for 28. Addison Russell is 5 for 24. Ben Zobrist is 4 for 19. You get the picture.
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But Heyward and Baez are linked in this way: They’re both outstanding defensive players at positions where Maddon has other very viable options for the lineup.
In an ideal world, Maddon’s best defensive players would be producing at the plate. That would make filling out the lineup card simple. That’s not the case right now, though.
And with his club down 2-0, in the best-of-seven NLCS, everything matters a bit more.
Even though Baez has yet to record a hit, Maddon is optimistic.
“The one thing I loved was his walk in his first at-bat (in Game 2). I really thought that would play better after that. ...
“I've always utilized that phrase with hitters in the past. When you're walking, you're hitting, meaning that you normally have your strike zone in order. I think when guys truly are slumping, it's because they're swinging at the pitcher's pitch consistently. Most of the time. Many times when hitters are slumping, they choose to think it's a mechanical flaw. And for me, it's more of a mental flaw. Meaning that you are not organized within your strike zone.”
When I asked Maddon about Heyward, he almost immediately started singing Heyward’s praises as a defender. The line drives that Heyward always seems to be in perfect position to catch out in right field? That’s Heyward, Maddon said, not the bench putting him in position.
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As for the start/sit balancing dilemma: “There are certain guys, like the other day in Washington, was it Strasburg, he's hit Strasburg really well. Great at-bats against one of the best pitchers in the National League,” Maddon said. “So sometimes it's just based on your skill set how you do things versus their guy, even though he's good. And sometimes a guy that's maybe not on paper as good that might give more problems that's based on that skill set versus his. So you just try to balance that out as well as you can.
"But he's a winner. He's been part of winning situations from the moment he's gotten to the Big Leagues. He has an impact on everybody on that bench.”
