Cubs' offense explodes, but questionable lineup decisions sideline a rising star. Is the rookie's potential being stifled?
The Chicago Cubs' offense is heating up.
They have scored 10+ runs in three straight games and at least seven runs in five consecutive contests. Friday’s 12-4 victory over the New York Mets might have been their best offensive output of the season.
Chicago scored a season-high 12 runs, totaled 14 hits, and hit another three home runs in the victory. With 29 total hits over the past two games, the Cubs' offense is on another level right now. Things are finally clicking after a slow start.
Nico Hoerner has been on a tear, Michael Busch has multiple hits in two of his past three games, Alex Bregman has a current seven-game hitting streak, and Carson Kelly has been one of Chicago’s better hitters early on.
The one hitter, though, who continues to hit the ball well is Moises Ballesteros. Ballesteros is batting an absurd .600 at the plate with three home runs and eight RBI since the beginning of last week. He has 12 hits over his last 20 at-bats and has only struck out once during this span.
There’s no denying that Ballesteros has been impressive this season. He has a .375 batting average, a 1.034 OPS, three home runs, and 10 RBI across 16 games. The Cubs rookie also ranks in the top 15% of the league in expected slugging (.525), average exit velocity (93.8 mph), barrel rate (16.7%), and hard-hit rate (60%).
However, manager Craig Counsell's approach to Ballesteros has been very questionable to start the season. Any time a left-handed pitcher comes to the mound, Counsell immediately yanks him from the game.
Now, in the right situations, it’s fine to replace Ballesteros when a left-handed pitcher is on the mound. If the Cubs need a run or need to tack on a run in the later innings, pinch-hitting for the rookie makes sense.
But it shouldn’t be every time a lefty steps foot on the mound.
It was an egregious decision to remove Ballesteros in the fifth inning of Friday’s game. The Cubs were leading 7-3 at that point, and the lefty was already 2-for-2 with one home run and three RBI in that game.
In a game like that, just let Ballesteros hit. Let him get some work against left-handed pitching. He has only two plate appearances against southpaws to begin the season, and the best way to improve at something is by getting more practice.
Even though Mets reliever Sean Manaea was expected to go multiple innings out of the bullpen, see what Ballesteros can do against a lefty. He has been swinging the ball well lately, and pinch-hitting for him in the fifth inning means the Cubs are losing his bat for the rest of the game.
Hopefully, things will change moving forward. Ballesteros has shown so much potential in the early going that his bat deserves to stay in the lineup.