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Chicago Cubs shouldn’t worry about Anthony Rizzo early in the season
For years, Anthony Rizzo has started slow offensively. This year is no different and the Chicago Cubs shouldn’t worry about him getting going at the dish.
A wind-aided victory pushed the Chicago Cubs back to the .500 mark on Friday and extended their winning streak to four games. The offense scored five times on eight hits, including a pair from struggling third baseman Kris Bryant, who, even after that effort, is hitting just .235 on the year.
Much has been made of Bryant’s early-season woes. Last season, the former Rookie of the Year and National League MVP missed a huge chunk of the season with a pair of injuries and even when he returned, he looked lost at the plate. Over the final month, he limped to a .412 slugging percentage – a far cry from what we’ve come to expect from him.
Bryant spent the offseason working his way back from the shoulder injury that sapped his ability to drive the ball and both he and the Cubs made one thing abundantly clear heading into 2019: he was 100 percent healthy and ready to go.
So, naturally, a great many fans are panicking over his early-season struggles. But, when you put Bryant’s numbers alongside fellow corner infielder Anthony Rizzo, the picture looks wildly different.
Heading into action Saturday, the Chicago first baseman is batting just .169 on the year. He reached three times on Friday, recording a base hit and a pair of walks in the win. As people panic over Bryant’s slow start to the season, seemingly nobody is talking about Rizzo. Why? Because we’ve been here before.
Chicago Cubs: We’ve seen slow starts from Rizzo before
First, let’s start with a macro view.
Last season, Bryant was scorching hot out of the gates, putting up a .948 OPS in the season’s first month. Such a strong start to open the season really contrasts with what we’ve seen so far in 2019. The same cannot be said for Rizzo, however.
In his career, Rizzo carries an unimpressive .235 average in the month of April. So, yes, even by his standards, he’s underperformed this season – but it’s really nothing out of the ordinary. He’s still getting on base (.367 career April OBP versus a .341 clip so far this year) and working counts, just like he always does.
As temperatures heat up, so, usually, does Rizzo’s offense. And, despite his slow start pretty much annually, the first baseman has eclipsed 100 RBI in each of the last four campaigns. Last season, his power numbers were down a bit (he hit just 25 home runs and totaled 29 doubles) – but he was still a force to be reckoned with in the middle of Chicago’s lineup.
Essentially, we’ve come to expect the slow start from Anthony Rizzo, so seeing him struggle in April doesn’t set off the same alarms that seeing someone like Bryant does. Between that and the fact that a lot of folks started questioning if the latter will live up to the lofty expectations he set early in his career have made objectively evaluating the Cubs’ two sluggers a unique challenge this season.
Chicago Cubs: Takeaways from Rizzo’s 2019 performance so far
Before we even start to get into Anthony Rizzo’s numbers this season, let’s get one thing out of the way. We are talking about an 18-game sample size. In other words, that accounts for just 11 percent of a 162-game regular season.
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It’s fairly insignificant in the grand scheme of things. But with the team looking to get more offense, there’s no harm in looking at where he’s found success – and where he hasn’t.
On the year, Rizzo carries an underwhelming .169/.341/.354 slash line. As we talked about earlier, the on-base percentage is fairly in line with what he’s done in his career early in the season. But his average and slugging percentage are downright abysmal.
Over the last week, in particular, things have gone from bad to worse for the slugger. He’s hitting just .077 in his last 13 at-bats (1-for-13 with four walks and two strikeouts).
But, believe it or not, there are things to be encouraged about. He’s struck out 15 times on the year but has drawn almost as many walks (14).
Next. Experienced rotation anchoring Cubs in April. dark
If we’re still talking about Anthony Rizzo struggling to crack the Mendoza Line in mid-May, then I’ll start to be worried. But this guy has proven time and time again to be the epitome of consistency – a true anchor in Joe Maddon‘s lineup. He’ll get it figured out – and, until he does, he’ll continue to see pitches, work counts and do the little things that help his teammates succeed.