Chicago Cubs have a lot of hitters who hope to be ‘different’ this year

Russell moving from the past

More from Cubbies Crib

• Cubs should keep close eye on non-tender candidate Cody Bellinger
• Cubs starting pitching has been thriving on the North Side
• Make no mistake: the Cubs are very much about power hitters
• Cubs are giving pitcher Javier Assad a deserved shot
• Cubs: It’s time to start thinking about potential September call-ups

Addison Russell finished the 2016 season with 95 RBI. He hit in the fifth spot in the batting order for most of the season. He had clearly earned a spot at the top of that next tier of hitter in the Cubs lineup just below Bryant and Rizzo.

In 2017 Russell missed a lot of time due to injuries and a domestic abuse complaint. His slash line from 2017 is very similar to his 2016 numbers.

 Still young

But Russell is only 24 years old. He should still be improving. If he is healthy the whole season and he improves upon his numbers from last season, that will be something different.

Ian Happ has already shown that he does everything he can to seize opportunities. Last year he hit so well in spring training that he put himself on the short list to get called up to the majors.

When he did get called up, he hit well until the pitchers adjusted to him, by getting him out with high strikes. Then he adjusted to the high strike. This spring Ian Happ did everything he could to win the leadoff spot in the lineup and become an everyday starter. If he can do that for the whole season, that will be different than even his excellent rookie campaign of last year.

Schwarber looks to rebound

Kyle Schwarber was a postseason hero in his rookie year. His second season lasted only three games into the season before he suffered a major knee injury. But then he miraculously came back to once again be a postseason hero. Last year was supposed to be his first full season in the majors. But Schwarber struggled at the plate and was eventually demoted to triple-A. When he returned, he hit much better.

However, the development of Happ, Almora and Baez has caused the Cubs to have more young starters than they have starting spots. As a left-handed batter its very easy to find a reason to sit Schwarber against left-handed pitchers. But that wasn’t initially the plan.

 Sit. Who, me? No.

Anthony Rizzo doesn’t sit against left-handed pitchers. If Schwarber can put together an entire quality season in the majors that will be a first for Schwaber. If he hits so well that Maddon doesn’t want to take him out of the starting lineup against left-handed pitchers, that will be something different.

Last year Albert Almora proved that he could be more than just a defensive replacement and a pinch runner. He killed left-handed pitching. But to become an everyday player, he will have to do the same with right-handed pitching.

If Almora doesn’t learn to hit right-handed pitching, he will become a platoon player. In a small sample size, Almora did begin to hit right-handed pitching better in the second half of last season, and that was something different from him. Can he do that over the course of an entire season?

Don’t chase the slider away

The first thing most of us think of when we think of Javier Baez the hitter is probably that violent swing. Because of that violent swing, he is a very streaky hitter. In 2016 he was the co-MVP of the NLCS. In 2017 he went through most of the postseason without a hit. Baez will always be a streaky hitter.

But there are definitely some areas where Baez can improve. The biggest is learning not to chase breaking balls out of the strike zone. So if Baez can prevent the lows from being so low, he can become a more consistent, streaky hitter and that would be something different for him.

Montero out, Contreras in

Last season when Miguel Montero talked his way off the Cubs and Willson Contreras was injured the Cubs front office acquired two veteran catchers, Alex Avila and René Rivera. They did that despite already having two good catchers at triple-A. Eventually, both Taylor Davis and Victor Caratini got called up to the big league club in 2017.

This offseason the front office once again acquired a veteran catcher, Chris Gimenez. Most figured Gimenez would begin the season as the backup catcher. But Victor Caratini claimed the backup catcher job during this spring training. He might not stick in the majors the whole year. Or he might have trouble adjusting to not being an everyday player.

He still needs to work on his receiving skills behind the plate. But if Caratini proves that he is a full season major leaguer and a good bench player that will be something different.

Contreras coming into his own

Contreras began his transformation into something different after the Cubs released Montero. Contreras became the unquestionable starting catcher. After starting opening day as the number eight hitter in the lineup, he spent most of the second half as the cleanup hitter behind Bryant and Rizzo. Then when Contreras was at his hottest, he suffered a pulled hamstring. He was then able to come back and prove that he was healthy before the postseason began.

There has been a lot of talks this offseason about how to arrange the Cubs lineup this coming season. But the one thing that nearly everyone agrees on is that Bryant, Rizzo and Contreras should hit back to back to back. You might be tempted to ask for more of the same from Contreras this season. But I’m not ready to say he has reached the height of his potential.

He still could become something even better than he already is. Contreras has been defying expectations of him for years. So to become even better than he already is really won’t be that different for him.

Next: Bryant, Red Bull at it again

With so many Cubs hitters having a very realistic chance to improve upon last year’s numbers the Cubs offense could go from great to incredible. Experience and probability tell us that there will be slumps and injuries. However, very few lineups have the combination of both this good of a baseline and this high of a ceiling.