Cubs are finally letting Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo do what they do best

For the last few years, Kris Bryant has batted all over the Cubs lineup. He’s led off, regularly been featured in the two hole and gotten some looks in the middle of the order. The same can be said for Anthony Rizzo who, despite being a perennial 30-homer, 100-RBI threat, has filled many of the same spots in the batting order as his corner infield counterpart.

But, at long last, it looks like Chicago is going to make the right call and let this powerful tandem bat third and fourth in the Cubs order, with catcher Willson Contreras looking like a strong bet to bat second this season.

“I’ve moved him around,” said Ross. “I think he (Contreras) is just one of the valuable pieces, a real pesky at-bat, a real right-handed [bat] in-between maybe a guy like Happer leading off — for the most part from the left side — and Rizzo maybe in the three or four hole.”

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While change obviously can’t be ruled out given the trade speculation surrounding guys like Bryant and Contreras, at least on paper, the Cubs have a pretty formidable top of the order heading into 2021. Ian Happ looked like a long-shot MVP candidate for much of last season and then a three-headed monster of Contreras, Rizzo and Bryant could be lethal.

Cubs could have a top-tier offense

For me personally, there is no reason Rizzo and Bryant should ever not be hitting third and fourth in the lineup – with the exception of a day off.

When these two are at their best, they’re two of the best hitters not only on this team, but in the National League. We know Bryant is looking to prove himself in a contract year and Rizzo, who’s also in the final year of his deal, is ready to prove the Cubs’ doubters wrong.

Last season, Bryant struggled through the worst performance of his big league career. Of course, we recently learned he played through pretty serious injuries that no doubt sapped his power – and I’m just ready to see him healthy and doing what we all know he’s capable of.

Given this top of the order mix and a supporting cast that boasts a former NL MVP finalist in Javier Baez, a resurgent Jason Heyward and a Joc Pederson who’s tearing the cover off the ball this spring, I’m growing more and more optimistic about what this Cubs offense might look like.