Seiya Suzuki looks awfully comfortable holding down left field for Ian Happ

Some Chicago Cubs fans still might cringe when they see a fly ball head toward Seiya Suzuki in the outfield, scarred by some past costly misplays. Those same misplays resulted in Suzuki ultimately becoming the primary DH on the team. With the Cubs starting the season with Kyle Tucker taking over right, Pete Crow-Armstrong in center, and Ian Happ in left, he fit in perfectly as the DH.

Suzuki, however, was called back into outfield duty when Happ went on the IL with an oblique issue. Not only required to return to outfield duty, but he is on the opposite side of the outfield he had been used to playing in the Majors. He was also in place of a multi-time Gold Glove winner in Happ.

So far, he's held his own out in left. Entering Monday, he is eight games into taking over for Happ in left and has made several nice plays, including throwing out White Sox Chase Meidroth at the plate in the Crosstown Series finale. His arm has always been one of, if not his strongest, assets as a defender. Even with the slight hesitation from Meidroth on that play, Suzuki threw an absolute strike that would have nailed him regardless.

Seiya Suzuki is pushing back against his biggest weakness

The advanced metrics are not eye-popping, and you still would rather have Happ out in left from a defensively 10/10, but stability is the ultimate goal with Suzuki filling in. The expectation has not been for him to have great range or make all the plays Happ can make, but as long as he is making routine plays, that is what can be asked of him. The routine plays are what seemed to give Suzuki the most trouble in right over the past years, referring back to those costly misplays mentioned before.

Give him props for looking comfortable out in left so far and adding a few nice plays on top of it. Again, not giving him a Gold Glove, but he's been perfectly adequate so far. It at least gives the Cubs a sense of comfort that he can fill in out there when needed, whether due to injury or guys getting days off.