Chicago Cubs: Examining the team’s options in the leadoff spot

With Kyle Schwarber‘s struggles in the leadoff spot taking center stage, we break down the team’s alternative options at the top of the order.

Let’s start with a few simple truths. We’re a month – one – into the 2017 season. Things haven’t gone quite as well as fans had hoped, sure. But the Chicago Cubs are still the reigning World Series champions and have more talent than any other team in the division.

But entering Tuesday’s game against the Phillies, the team was clinging to a disappointing 13-12 record and a tie atop the National League Central. The bullpen turned around its early struggles to lead the league in ERA for the month of April and the bats of Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo are showing signs of life.

There are still a lot of struggles that need addressed. First-inning runs plague this club on a nightly basis. And on the other side of the diamond, current leadoff hitter Kyle Schwarber has struggled adapting to his new role atop the lineup card.

So what choices does manager Joe Maddon have? To be frank, quite a few. It’s just a matter of fitting the pieces together properly – not just in the batting order but across the diamond defensively.

Lack of pop, average for Kyle Schwarber

Entering play Tuesday, Schwarber had fallen below .200 on the year – a troubling sign for one of the team’s biggest prospects.

His .334 on-base percentage ranks eighth among Cubs’ regular hitters. More troubling, perhaps, are his 35 strikeouts – which equates to a 36 percent strikeout rate. He’s hit three home runs over the season’s first month and, in all honesty, it seems like his approach at the plate has drastically changed.

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Instead of looking to attack mistakes, he’s taking pitches – a lot of pitches. He’s seeing roughly 5.6 pitches per plate appearance so far this year. As a leadoff man, that’s his job in an ideal situation: see pitches not only for himself, but for his teammates behind him in the order.

But when you have a player with Schwarber’s slugging abilities, is it ideal to lose that impact bat in the middle of the lineup?

The stocky outfielder carries a disappointing .330 slugging percentage on the year. That’s more than 100 points below his career average. It’s not a matter of what he’s capable of at the dish. It’s simply coming down to adapting an approach that’s not producing results.

One of the best on-base presences in baseball

The proud owner of a .358 career on-base percentage, Ben Zobrist is one of the most logical choices to lead things off for the Cubs on a day-in, day-out basis.

There are few players in the game who know how to work a count like the Chicago veteran utiltyman. Last year, his first with the Cubs, Zobrist appeared in 147 games all over the diamond. His defensive versatility also contributes to why he could make a good leadoff man. Maddon can mix and match with Zo and largely keep the same pieces on the field, just in different positions.

In those nearly-150 games, the Illinois native finished with the second-highest OBP of his big-league career. His professional, calm approach emanated throughout the Chicago lineup all season long – ultimately paying dividends with the game-winning knock in Game 7 of the World Series.

You can play him at a minimum of four different positions and he knows how to work a count. Despite his early struggles in 2017, it’s not hard to understand why people are so high on him setting the table for this powerful Cubs’ offense.

Heyward, producing, a potential leadoff hitter?

As Chicago Cubs fans, we’re becoming particularly greedy individuals.

Chicago Cubs

Win a World Series? Done. Now why haven’t you gone 25-6 in the first month like you did last season? That’s unacceptable. That same twisted mindset has taken hold in the minds of more than a few fans regarding outfielder Jason Heyward.

After putting up disappointing numbers in his first season with the Cubs, Heyward appears to have turned a corner mentally at the plate. Flirting with a .270 average and hitting the ball harder than any other Chicago Cubs player one month in, the former first-rounder is again a threat.

The simple truth is this: the Cubs aren’t likely to use him as a leadoff hitter in 2017. It’s not a matter of his ability, but similar to Schwarber, the team won’t want to tweak with his approach – especially after his struggles last season.

This guy is a true professional. He comes to the diamond ready to help his team. He does so with his Gold Glove defense and, more recently, by driving the ball all over the diamond.

“It’s physical,” Maddon told CSN Chicago, “because he’s always been that guy. He’s great in the clubhouse. He’s always there in the present tense. He plays hard, all that stuff. But if you just took a snapshot standing in the box last year and this year – just where he’s starting from – it’s incredibly different. It’s where he’s starting the bat. That’s it.”

Next: How does this year's offense compare to last season's?