Chicago Cubs: With Addison Russell’s return, club has options moving forward

As the calendar flips to September, the Chicago Cubs are starting to get healthy. With the addition of Daniel Murphy, where does Addison Russell fit in now?

Unfortunately for Addison Russell, the 2018 season has failed to live up to expectations. Since his pseudo-breakout campaign in 2016, in which he hit a career-high 21 home runs and drove in 95 runs, he has failed to reach that level of production over the past couple of seasons.

A positive note for Russell in 2018 is that he has already appeared in more games than he did all of last season. Although his average is at a career-high .258 currently, however, many other aspects of his game have not been there, causing the Cubs to make a move they did when they acquired Daniel Murphy a few weeks ago.

Still, for the Cubs and Russell, the prospective position the team finds itself in is still very much advantageous. It is clear that Murphy is the locked-in second baseman moving forward, with Javier Baez firmly entrenched in at shortstop. That being said, a healthy Russell gives manager Joe Maddon the ability to mix and match lineups and positioning, which will benefit the team.