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The Good
In a month of frustration, many good things are drawn for the Chicago Cubs performance. First of all, Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant are showing their MVP qualities. Rizzo leads the team with six home runs and 17 RBI. And Bryant is not far behind with four homers and 14 knocked in. Bryant also leads regular starters in batting average.
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But there is more. Five Cubs have scored double-digit runs, and five knocked in more than 10 teammates. Jon Jay is proving that he can be relied on at the plate, hitting .389 in spots starts and off the bench. It is teammate Miguel Montero, also in part-time work, that represents the largest surprise. Currently, he is hitting .394 with a couple of clutch home runs.
There are several other positives. The Cubs are winning games. Maybe not at the rate as we saw in 2016, but winning. Their team average is top 10 in all of baseball, and they have scored the fifth most runs. They are even top 10 in steals so far. But this biggest surprise is not the team, but a teammate.
Jason Heyward. Yes, the high-contract-no-offense-great-defense guy the Cubs signed in 2016. For the month of April, Heyward hit .282 with three home runs and 16 RBI. A massive improvement from his performance last year. What is more telling is that balls are coming off his bat at 100 MPH regularly. In 2016, it was only 86 MPH. If that continues, watch out.