Chicago Cubs Ben Zobrist starting slow after stellar 2018

The Chicago Cubs have started to turn a corner after a poor start. One name you might expect to be part of it is Ben Zobrist. But that hasn’t been the case this year.

The Chicago Cubs started the season terribly, mostly because of pitching. The offense in most of the games has been just fine, but as we all know, it comes down to pitching. The Cubs pitching has seemed to turn a corner and figure things out as the offense continues to keep rolling.

The Cubs have crawled back to within a few games of the division lead but have done it in a very interesting way. Some of the Cubs most dangerous and reliable hitters have been near nonexistent at the plate. Kris Bryant, the former NL rookie of the year and NL MVP has yet to find his feel at the plate. The same could be said for the veteran of the Chicago Cubs, Anthony Rizzo.

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Then there is the World Series MVP of 2016, Ben Zobrist. He’s been struggling at the plate early on, batting .231 in 65 plate appearances, Zobrist has only driven in five and scored seven runs. Because of this, Daniel Descalso has seen the leadoff spot more often than Zobrist has.

This is all troubling especially after the 2018 that Zobrist had.  It was one of the best years of his career, where it saw Zorbrist hit .305 in 520 plate appearance. To that, he added 28 doubles, three triples, and nine homers.

All of that power seems to be gone so far early in the season as his slugging percentage sits at just .231. Now Zobrist has never really been known to be a slugger and driving the ball for power, but to this point in the season, he has zero extra-base hits.

After last season, fans likely figured Zobrist would finish his four-year deal up with a strong final campaign. It’s early, but that’s not been the case. Even before the slow start, some were wondering if Zobrist was already on the trade block.

Cubs fans shouldn’t worry though, because we all know what kind of player Zobrist is. He is a veteran who knows the grind of a Major League Baseball season and early season struggles are a part of that. He will figure it out and be the reliable ‘Zorilla’ that all of us have seen of the last few seasons.