Chicago Cubs: Addison Russell coming alive in month of June

Heating up with the summer temps

Much like he did about this time last year, Addison Russell is stringing together some quality at-bats in the month of June.

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In 2016, the infielder drove in 22 runs in July – coming off the worst offensive month of his season in June. This year, coming off a dreadful month of May, he’s back at it again.

From May to June, Russell’s month-to-month OPS is up roughly 300 points. He’s recorded multi-hit games in five games this month, getting back to what made him successful in the season’s first month. He’s been more about taking what’s given to him, rather than forcing the issue as he did in May.

Simply put, when Russell hits, the Cubs win. You could make the same case for many of the team’s young pieces, but he’s been incredibly critical to the team’s success. Over the last two weeks, although the team’s frustrating inconsistency continued, he’s really made strides.

In that stretch, he owns a .342/.359/.763 line – with four long-balls and 10 RBI. (And that’s before another multi-hit effort in Saturday’s win over Miami).