May 16, 2017

CSNChicago.com, What's Happening With Kyle Schwarber And Cubs' Leadoff Situation? http://www.csnchicago.com/chicago-cubs/whats-happening-kyle-schwarber-and-cubs-leadoff-situation

Chicago Tribune, With Jason Heyward out, Cubs using creative ways to play Ian Happ http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-ian-happ-multiple-positions-notes-spt-0516-20170515-story.html

Chicago Tribune, Kyle Schwarber must stop leading off — for everybody's sake http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/columnists/ct-spt-0516-kyle-schwarber-cubs-haugh-20170515-column.html

Chicago Tribune, Cubs reliever Carl Edwards Jr. growing more confident in pressure situations http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-carl-edwards-jr-future-closer-spt-0516-20170515-story.html

Chicago Tribune, Cubs prospect Felix Pena might be back in majors soon http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-felix-pena-cubs-minor-leagues-spt-0516-20170515-story.html

Chicago Tribune, Cubs will honor 70th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's Wrigley Field debut http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-cubs-honor-jackie-robinson-20170515-story.html

Chicago Sun-Times, No pain, no gain: Anthony Rizzo keeps standing in the line of fire http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/no-pain-no-gain-anthony-rizzo-keeps-standing-in-the-line-of-fire/

Chicago Sun-Times, Cubs’ defense has been far cry from what it was last season http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/cubs-defense-has-been-far-cry-from-what-it-was-last-season/

Chicago Sun-Times, Even by his standards, free-radical Joe Maddon is out there this year http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/even-by-his-standards-free-radical-joe-maddon-is-out-there-this-year/

Daily Herald, Despite struggles, Schwarber has a plan for getting on track http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/20170515/despite-struggles-schwarber-has-a-plan-for-getting-on-track

Daily Herald, How's this for a White Sox-Cubs trade? Quintana for Schwarber http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/20170515/hows-this-for-a-white-sox-cubs-trade-quintana-for-schwarber

Cubs.com, Cubs need Schwarber to get going from leadoff http://m.cubs.mlb.com/news/article/230377154/kyle-schwarber-seeks-better-results-at-leadoff/

Cubs.com, Butler credits Arrieta for steering him right http://m.cubs.mlb.com/news/article/230395792/cubs-eddie-butler-thanks-jake-arrieta-for-help/?topicId=27118368

ESPNChicago.com, What's wrong with the Cubs? http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/19388720/why-chicago-cubs-struggling

-- CSNChicago.com What's Happening With Kyle Schwarber And Cubs' Leadoff Situation? By Patrick Mooney Kyle Schwarber needed help going to the bathroom around this time last year. All struggles are relative. It’s the middle of May. With another comeback, this could become part of the legend. But 391 days after a Dallas Cowboys doctor reconstructed the ACL and repaired the LCL in his left knee — and six-and-a-half months after his line-drive leadoff single in the 10th inning of a World Series Game 7 rally — Schwarber is hitting .179 for a fourth-place team. From the top of the lineup, throughout the rotation and all over the field defensively, the Cubs don’t look like themselves. Even though he’s only 24 years old and still hasn’t come close to playing a full season in the big leagues yet, the Cubs are counting on Schwarber to be an emotional leader and an intimidating presence for an offense that was supposed to easily score 800-plus runs. “It’s a crazy game,” Schwarber said. “It can put you in a great place. And it can put you in a bad place. So you just try to stay right here — just try to stay right in the middle.” Schwarber insists hitting leadoff hasn’t altered his approach, and manager Joe Maddon has dropped no hints about ending this experiment when the Cubs begin a 10-game homestand on Tuesday night against the Reds. “Not at all,” Schwarber said. “I don’t think the leadoff spot has changed what’s been going on. I squared some balls up and wasn’t able to get a hit or anything like that. It’s part of the game. It’s baseball. That’s why it’s a game of failure and you got to learn from your mistakes.” Maybe getting settled at Wrigley Field and hitting in warmer weather will help Schwarber find a rhythm after a 1-for-18 road trip through Coors Field and Busch Stadium. Maddon’s happy talk can be distracting, but the manager has a point about Schwarber hitting into defensive shifts and some bad luck. Schwarber’s .224 batting average on balls in play is almost 70 points below the major-league average. In terms of grinding out at-bats, only two hitters in The Show — Toronto’s Jose Bautista and San Francisco’s Brandon Belt — have seen more pitches than Schwarber (704) so far this season. Schwarber’s 24 walks lead the team and rank tied for seventh in the National League. “If you keep playing back the tape, I’m seeing great swing, ball fouled back,” Maddon said. “It’s not coming over our dugout. Once in a while, it’s pulled on something soft. But a lot of them are going straight back in. “It’s not like he’s slow or he’s not on time. He’s just a click underneath the baseball.” It’s not like Schwarber made his reputation putting up numbers in garbage time or against fringe pitchers. It’s also easy to forget that he barely hit above .200 in September 2015 before launching a Gerrit Cole fastball into the Allegheny River in the wild-card game and blasting four more homers during the next two playoff rounds. “We all know what he can do,” veteran catcher Miguel Montero said. “The best advice I keep giving him is just keep swinging. Don’t change anything, because everything looks good. (The other day) he went 0-for-4 with three bullets. “As long as you keep with that same swing you’re doing right now, they’re going to find a hole. The worst thing you can do is start changing things. That’s when you get in a funk. He’s not doing anything wrong.” If anything, this proves that Schwarber is human after all. A staring contest with the pitching machine in Mesa and two Arizona Fall League games would be all Schwarber needed before facing Corey Kluber and Cleveland’s deep bullpen (7-for-17 with three walks).

“What he did in the World Series is kind of unusual,” Maddon said. “But we all have so much faith in him and we all know how good he is. Maybe it’s everybody’s expecting the world out of him right out of the chute. “I can’t tell you that he’s pressing. I don’t know that. Talking to him, he seems to be fine. He’s running through a tough moment, but he’s really good, and I know it’s going to level out in our favor. So it’s just one of those things we have to ride (out).” The Cubs would not be the defending champs right now if Schwarber had been mentally weak or oversensitive to criticism or expecting the worst. “You can’t let it bother you,” Schwarber said. “Obviously, it gets frustrating. You feel like you put a good swing on the ball and you’re just not getting your result. But I just got to keep going with the approach. “I’m going to stay positive every day. I’m still going to be confident. I’m never going up there thinking: ‘Oh, I’m going to get out.’ I’m thinking I’m going to do some damage. “Many hitters have gone through what I’ve been going through. You just got to keep going.” -- Chicago Tribune With Jason Heyward out, Cubs using creative ways to play Ian Happ By Mark Gonzales Joe Maddon moved Ian Happ from right field to center field in the final two innings of Sunday's loss to the Cardinals, a sign that the Cubs manager could be maximizing every opportunity to see the prized prospect play at multiple positions before Jason Heyward returns. Maddon places a premium on versatility, and his faith in Happ's defensive skills could determine how long he stays with the Cubs. The Cubs' outfield depth is stretched thin. However, Maddon said Jon Jay's back spasms aren't expected to require a trip to the 10-day disabled list, Kris Bryant is expected to return Tuesday night after missing the entire Cardinals series with an illness and Heyward should be back soon after recovering from a right index finger injury. Happ's natural position is second base, but that's covered by Javier Baez and Tommy La Stella with Ben Zobrist expected to be available after not starting the last two games because of lower back stiffness. At the plate, Happ is 3-for-7 with a home run and a double. He has made a favorable impression on Maddon and pitcher Jake Arrieta. "He's got a really, really nice swing," Arrieta said. "And he's seems like he's very comfortable at this level. Even in spring training, he was not fazed by anything. He's got a good demeanor about the way he handles himself, and it's going to help him make the transition easily." While in Chicago, Happ, 22, will be accompanied by with older brother Chris, who played at Duquesne for four seasons. Extra innings: La Stella is 5-for-14 (.357) during a four-game hitting streak. ... The Cubs have been shut out three times after being blanked six times during all of 2016. --

Chicago Tribune Kyle Schwarber must stop leading off — for everybody's sake By David Haugh Sorry, Babe, but Kyle Schwarber leading off for the Cubs looks like it was a bad idea. The guy Chicago built up to Ruthian proportions woke up Monday hitting a Mendoza-like .179 for a team struggling to score. And the Cubs offense will continue to struggle if they keep a hitter slumping that badly at the top of the order. You don't need to consult your favorite analytics web site to project that. You don't need to be a sports psychologist to observe a 24-year-old athlete notoriously tough on himself pressing at the plate. You can't deny that, for Schwarber's own good, immediately moving the left-handed slugger down in the order makes sense before the options include sending him down to Triple-A Iowa to regain his batting eye. We used to marvel at the majestic home runs Schwarber hit. On Sunday in St. Louis, as the 18-19 Cubs lost their third straight series, Joe Maddon was reduced to raving about the great swings Schwarber showed fouling the ball straight back. Did you guys see the way that one ricocheted off the screen? It has come to that, dissecting Schwarber's good strikes. Schwarbombs have been few and far between, replaced by too many swing-and-misfires. Yet for reasons that escape many of us who dare question the method behind all this Maddon-ness, the Cubs manager keeps writing Schwarber's name at the top of the order. Consider Schwarber, 0 for his last 14, owns the major leagues' lowest batting average among leadoff hitters with at least 100 plate appearances. He has a .313 on-base percentage with 44 strikeouts. His body language screams help, yet the Cubs see and hear no evil. Alas, the longer the forced leadoff experiment goes on, the more it seems as radical as Maddon's suggestion for mandatory cup checks and on-deck circle cages. A manager who brought the Cubs a World Series title has enough baseball equity in town to acknowledge the Schwarber misjudgment and move on. Only 37 games into this season, Maddon easily could chalk it up to something he had to try with a roster lacking an obvious leadoff solution. Give the innovative Maddon credit for the ingenuity necessary to execute such an unorthodox plan, but nobody would blame him for adjusting now. Refusing to do so only creates a perception of Maddon insistent on proving he is the smartest guy in the room. Would installing another Cub in the leadoff spot be a bigger blow to Schwarber's ego or Maddon's? Those who oppose replacing Schwarber often mention that the Cubs lack a viable leadoff alternative. That the front office never really replaced Dexter Fowler, Mr. You-Go, We-Go who went to the Cardinals for more money. That's a valid point, potentially exposing one of the few misreads Cubs President Theo Epstein has made. But given the deep roster Maddon has to work with, the center-field platoon of Albert Almora and Jon Jay — whose on-base percentage is .405 — still represents better options than a struggling Schwarber. So would Ben Zobrist. Is a resurgent Jason Heyward any crazier of a thought than Schwarber? As for Schwarber, he needs to bat sixth or seventh until comfortably getting in the groove again. He needs to go back to what worked when he resembled a dangerous middle-of-the-order run producer worthy of all the national hype. He needs to stop making all those glowing stories read like fiction in retrospect and start doing more than hit impressive foul balls. He needs to quit making Cubs fans of a certain age Google the name Brooks Kieschnick. (Look him up, millennials.) With shaky starting pitching, the Cubs can't afford to wait indefinitely until Schwarber figures it out. The calendar isn't stuck on 2016, even though so many minds in town still are. The Schwarber who became a World Series legend has been mostly myth so far. The thinking on Schwarber must change, from the press box to the bleachers to the dugout.

Switch-hitting outfielder Ian Happ, the 2015 first-round pick who made a strong debut in St. Louis, could receive playing time at Schwarber's expense if the slump continues. And if Schwarber can't snap out of it, a rejuvenating trip to the minors must remain an option — despite his stature. The psyche of one of the Cubs' most mentally tough players can take it. The Royals sent down third baseman Mike Moustakas, a former No. 2 pick, for eight games in 2014 when he started out hitting .152 — and he was an All-Star in 2015. The Dodgers demoted outfielder Yasiel Puig to Triple-A Oklahoma City for 19 games last August, and Puig returned to be a factor in the playoffs. Nobody suggests dangling Schwarber as trade bait, a premature overreaction for a cornerstone player. Nobody necessarily wants to dwell on Schwarber's adequate-at-best defense, which the Cubs can tolerate if he hits. But if a young Cubs outfielder with 106 games of major-league experience and a career .219 batting average were named Jack Jones, his present shortcomings would outweigh any past success and demand action. The name Kyle Schwarber always will own a special place in Cubs history. That should guarantee nothing about Schwarber's future, which still can include leading the Cubs — just not leading off. -- Chicago Tribune Cubs reliever Carl Edwards Jr. growing more confident in pressure situations By Mark Gonzales Carl Edwards Jr. has a simple formula for his wicked fastball. "It's a muscle memory thing," the wiry Edwards said. "My dad taught me (to) focus down and hit the target. (Former Rangers pitching coordinator) Danny Clark taught me the same thing. "Now it's like a video game. If you keep playing the same video game, you keep getting better and better. I feel like the more I keep doing it, the better I'll get at it and the more confidence I'll have. Even if I'm facing a 3-1 count, I know I can go down and away and get back in the count." As Edwards receives more high-leverage roles, slightly more than two seasons since converting to the bullpen, the more dominant he has become. The confident demeanor and improved sharpness on his fastball have combined to fuel Edwards' ambitions to become a closer. "You see it on the mound that he owns the mound," said Miguel Montero, who caught Edwards in the 10th inning of Game 7 of the World Series. "In the past, it wasn't that he never had that body language, that he was afraid, but he knows he belongs here. In the past, maybe he thought: 'I don't want to get sent down. Let me do this right.' "Now he knows he can be in any situation in any time and close the game." Edwards, 25, has only two major-league saves, and there is no need to rush him into the closer role after the acquisition of Wade Davis with Hector Rondon as another option. But Edwards has been more reliable in high-leverage situations. He started the season with a 12-inning scoreless streak and has struck out 16 of the last 34 batters. He has limited opponents to a .120 batting average and walked only one over 12 consecutive appearances before walking two Friday in St. Louis. "Consistency is the name of the game," pitching coach Chris Bosio said. "It's a long season. There's going to be hiccups, but maintain what you've been doing, keep the learning curve going, try to get better as far as your aptitude, paying attention to the game.

"That's the one thing going great with our young players is the hunger they have. They all want to get better. CJ is just another one of those young players (for whom) that's a goal." As recently as spring training, President Theo Epstein acknowledged the bullpen could undergo changes in the upcoming years and it's important to take a closer look at some of the younger pitchers. In the meantime, Edwards said he has studied Davis and his preparation and repertoire of pitches, which could become essential with Davis expected to depart in free agency after this season. "I feel like we're somewhat the same pitcher with the same pitches, but I don't really use all of them," Edwards said. "By just watching him, it's a learning experience. "Let's say 10 years down the road, I'm not throwing 90 mph plus. I'll still know how to close out games or come into games with several pitches and throwing them with confidence." Three appearances in 2016 measured Edwards' development. The first occurred in the 11th inning of a 15-inning victory June 28 in Cincinnati. Edwards protected a 2-2 tie by retiring Joey Votto on a deep fly and striking out Brandon Phillips and Jay Bruce. Six weeks later, the Cubs summoned Edwards to protect a 2-0 lead in the eighth against the Angels with runners at second and third and no one out against Mike Trout, Albert Pujols and Andrelton Simmons. Edwards struck out Trout, induced Pujols to hit an RBI grounder to second and stranded the tying run at third by retiring Simmons on a grounder to second. "I realized this is what (being a closer) feels like," Edwards said. Falling one out short of closing the World Series clincher might have been a blessing in disguise for Edwards, who saw Aroldis Chapman surrender a tying home run to Rajai Davis two innings earlier. "We had Chapman and then needed three outs to win it," said Edwards, who was replaced by Mike Montgomery. "It's not easy to finish a game or come in with a tie game or keep a lead on the road. ... I learned a lot last year." Said Montero: "Anyone would have had nerves. I had nerves catching. It definitely will help him build some confidence, and now he knows he was in that situation in the World Series. "Why should he be nervous about pitching a regular (season) game in the ninth inning? The confidence level grows from there, and it seems his confidence level is pretty good." Nevertheless, the learning process continues. Bullpen coach Lester Strode emphasizes the importance of repeating his delivery, while sports psychologist Ken Ravizza and mental skills coordinator Darnell McDonald keep him in the right frame of mind during key moments. And there's the challenge of staying current and consistent with a new video game. "The (NBA) 2K18 is coming out soon," Edwards said. "I need to talk to somebody and get that quick." -- Chicago Tribune Cubs prospect Felix Pena might be back in majors soon By Mark Gonzales Reliever Felix Pena is known these days as the player the Cubs sent to Triple-A Iowa to make room for Ian Happ.

But manager Joe Maddon sees a promising future for Pena, who allowed two earned runs in five innings in his brief stint with the Cubs this month. "I'm a big Felix Pena fan," Maddon said Saturday. "I think he's going to be very good. He understood why we had to do this. "Beyond having good stuff, he has a calm about him when he pitches, which will benefit him as he gains more experience. It's a combination of good mound presence with good mound stuff." Pena, 27, returned to Iowa, where he earned a promotion on the basis of a 1.86 ERA and 11 strikeouts in 9 2/3 innings. If Pena can limit walks (six), he could return to the Cubs in the near future. Eloy Jimenez, OF, Class A Myrtle Beach: The organization's top prospect returned after being sidelined for nearly two months by a right shoulder bruise and went 5-for-11 in his first three games, including a game-ending bases-loaded walk in the 13th Sunday and his first home run Monday night. Victor Caratini, C, Iowa: The switch hitter is creating a nice problem with Willson Contreras and Kyle Schwarber ahead of him. Caratini is 13 for his last 29 with two homers and has raised his average from .315 to .347. Ian Rice, C, Double-A Tennessee: The 29th-round pick in 2015 out of the University of Houston was attractive because of his high on-base percentage. In addition to a .425 on-base percentage, Rice hit four home runs during a nine-game span. Gerardo Concepcion, LHP, Tennessee: After signing with the Cubs for $6 million out of Cuba in 2012, Concepcion was released last week after posting a 5.87 ERA in seven appearances. Oscar De La Cruz, RHP, Class A Myrtle Beach: He pitched a five-hit shutout Sunday against Lynchburg despite striking out only one. De La Cruz has allowed one earned run in his last 13 innings. -- Chicago Tribune Cubs will honor 70th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's Wrigley Field debut By Mark Gonzales The Cubs on Thursday will celebrate the 70th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's first game at Wrigley Field. Meta Robinson, Jackie Robinson's granddaughter, will help raise a new flag honoring his legacy on the right-field foul pole. The Cubs had previously flown a “JR 42” flag on Wrigley Field rooftop following the retirement of Robinson’s No. 42 by Major League Baseball in 1997. Robinson broke baseball's color barrier in 1947 and played his first game at Wrigley on May 18, 1947. That game drew a paid crowd of 46,572, which remains the largest paid regular season crowd in Wrigley history. -- Chicago Sun-Times No pain, no gain: Anthony Rizzo keeps standing in the line of fire By Steve Greenberg Anthony Rizzo couldn’t just stand there and do nothing. Not after being hit in the left forearm, a couple of inches above the wrist, by the mother of all fastballs.

So he doubled over in agony — for all of about three seconds. Then he took his base because that’s what the guy does. If you’re like me, you watched Rizzo absorb that pitch from Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman a little more than a week ago and wondered how it must have felt and how you would have reacted had you been hit in the same spot by a pitcher who rolls out of bed in the morning throwing 100 mph. I’d like to think I wouldn’t have cried. Passed out, definitely, but not cried. Rizzo did little more than grimace and walk to first base, as though hit-by-pitch No. 82 of his career was no different than Nos. 1 through 81. It’s a nonstarter to ask Rizzo to describe how it felt. ‘‘It’s fine; no issue,’’ he said a day after the incident, as though the swelling and bruising on his arm were like a temporary tattoo a child gets at a carnival. Jason Heyward, Addison Russell, Kris Bryant, Ben Zobrist, Jon Jay — all have missed time, with an assortment of ailments, since Rizzo was hit by Chapman. But Rizzo was in the lineup for both games of a doubleheader the next time the Cubs took the field. He’s only 3-for-20 since being hit — probably not a coincidence — but at least he’s playing at a time when his struggling team needs all hands on deck. ‘‘He’s a gamer,’’ Zobrist said. ‘‘He’s a guy that’s tough. He’s not going to make any excuses — ever. That’s why he’s the franchise guy here. He’s Anthony Rizzo. He’s a stud.’’ Rizzo isn’t going to elaborate in any detail about the pain he dealt with two Sundays ago or about how his arm has felt since. But that doesn’t mean his teammates won’t do it for him, even if it involves some guesswork. ‘‘Oh, God, it had to hurt a ton,’’ right-hander Kyle Hendricks said. ‘‘I’m sure he’s still feeling it big time. He won’t tell you that; he won’t even tell us that. But getting hit in that kind of spot, right on the wrist like that, 100 miles an hour? I can’t even fathom it.’’ Willson Contreras still remembers the pain he occasionally felt last season just from catching Chapman, who was the Cubs’ closer. ‘‘If I couldn’t catch the ball in the net of the glove, it would hurt my hand so bad,’’ he said. ‘‘But 100 miles an hour in the arm? Oh, my God, it would hurt. It would hurt like crazy. It hurts just to think about it. But that’s why Rizzo is the leader of this team.’’ If anything, taking that HBP and living to tell about it seems to have upped Rizzo’s street cred among his fellow Cubs. ‘‘He took it like a man,’’ Russell said. ‘‘That just tells you the type of player that he is. He’s a dog. He’s the man.’’ And maybe a bit of a maniac? Most players wouldn’t dare stand where Rizzo does at the plate. He practically begs to be drilled by the baseball. We’ve seen this for so long now, it has become just another routine thing. Yet it doesn’t get any less dangerous. ‘‘And it’s not just where he stands; it’s also what he does when the ball is coming in at him,’’ Zobrist said. ‘‘A lot of us, when the ball comes at us, we jump out of the way. He just stays right in there and — this is the part that’s amazing to me — he doesn’t even move his feet. ‘‘Maybe that’s why we take it for granted that, when he gets hit, he’s going to walk down to first base and stay in the game, stay in the lineup. We probably shouldn’t just assume that because it isn’t really fair. But we do.’’

By now, we all do. In his career, Rizzo has been hit by a pitch in .025 percent of his plate appearances. That’s once per 40. The Cubs open a 10-game homestand Tuesday. The math says Rizzo has another HBP coming his way at Wrigley Field. At least he knows it almost certainly won’t be as bad as the last one. -- Chicago Sun-Times Cubs’ defense has been far cry from what it was last season By John Grochowski A quarter of the baseball season will have passed in a few days, and the Cubs have an 18-19 record born of mediocrity in all phases. The Cubs have scored 172 runs and allowed 170, so within a game or so of the .500 mark is right where they belong. Defensive lapses have been part of that mediocrity, just as spectacular defense was part of the reason the Cubs won last season. The 2017 Cubs have not been particularly good at turning balls in play into outs. The major-league average for opponents’ batting average on balls in play is .293; the Cubs are at .300. The numbers look worse when errors are factored in to get defensive efficiency. The Cubs’ DefEff is .680, which means they’ve turned 68 percent of balls in play into outs. The major-league average is .693, with the Reds leading at .726. Contrast that to 2016, when the Cubs’ .728 DefEff was 40 points better than the major-league average and 25 points better than the runner-up Blue Jays. The Cubs committed 101 errors last season, six more than the major-league average, but that was more than offset by their range and other defensive factors. They’ve committed 30 errors in 37 games this season, a pace that would lead to 131 errors. That feeds into the difference between oBABiP and DefEff. If 10 balls are put into play and the defense turns six into outs, makes one error allowing a runner to reach base and has three go for hits, the opponents have three hits in 10 at-bats and a .300 BABiP. The defense, however, has turned 10 balls in play into only six outs for a .600 DefEff. When the Cubs led the majors with 107 defensive runs saved last season, they were above the zero point that defines the major-league average at every position. With only 12 runs saved this season, they’re in negative territory at third base (minus-2), left field (minus-4) and center field (minus-2). Kyle Schwarber is at minus-5 in left, where Jon Jay is plus-1. Jay hasn’t been as efficient in center, where he is minus-3. Ben Zobrist, in limited play in right field, also is at minus-3. The defensive bright spots have been Addison Russell, who is plus-8 to rank first in the majors at shortstop, and Jason Heyward, who is plus-7 to rank first in right and plus-1 in his occasional moves to center. It’s early enough that close-to-zero numbers, such as Jay’s plus-1 in left and Kris Bryant’s minus-1 at third, barely are worth mentioning. And a great deal of the Cubs’ blah start can be blamed on an offense that hasn’t hit its stride (Bryant’s .949 is the only OPS above .735 among those with at least 100 plate appearances). Add in Jake Arrieta’s 5.44 ERA on a staff that has allowed 1.24 home runs per game after yielding 1.01 last season, and you have trouble.

But the defense frequently was a reason the Cubs got out of trouble last season. That hasn’t been the case this season. -- Chicago Sun-Times Even by his standards, free-radical Joe Maddon is out there this year By Rick Morrissey Cubs manager Joe Maddon is having a tough early season, hitting to all fields in the ballpark of strange. If he’s not insisting on Kyle Schwarber leading off, despite a batting average that has been on a six-week crash diet, he’s talking about ‘‘awkward’’ scheduling being a factor in his team’s mediocre start and railing against the emasculation of baseball. Can a guy complain the game is going soft when he allowed a mime to entertain his players during spring training last year? I’ve checked the rulebook, and the answer is no. Let’s start with Schwarber. I don’t know anybody who dislikes the kid. There might be people who are frustrated he has reached legendary status in Chicago based on a short story of a résumé, but it’s hard not to like his swing, his smile and his squatness. Whether he should be the Cubs’ leadoff hitter was a huge debate in town even before the season started. The idea of a power hitter batting first never bothered me. I just chalked it up to Maddon wanting to be different, also known as ‘‘Joe’s reason for living.’’ But now that Schwarber is hitting a flyweight .179, Maddon’s stubbornness is showing. One of Maddon’s hallmarks is his unpredictability. His players check the lineup every day because they never know what position they might be playing and where they might be hitting in the order. For reasons that escape me, Schwarber has been exempt from the controlled chaos. He has hit leadoff in 32 of the Cubs’ 37 games. Please don’t bring up former Cub Dexter Fowler as a comp. Yes, he was a fixture in the leadoff spot for the North Siders last season when he wasn’t injured, but he was also an eight-year veteran and finished 2016 with a .393 on-base percentage, 11th-best in baseball. Schwarber’s on-base percentage this season is .313, tied for 124th. Maddon is being inconsistent with his mad-scientist lineup act. It’s possible he’s worried he’ll hurt the confidence of a slumping player even more by moving him down in the lineup, but giving a player a change of scenery in the batting order sometimes does wonders. The answer to the Schwarber problem isn’t this question: Who else would you bat first? That’s beside the point. But if you insist: Anybody else. Meanwhile, Maddon has gone all-in on what he perceives as the scourge of daintiness seeping into the game. His anger flared Saturday in St. Louis, when Cubs rookie Ian Happ slid past second base, breaking up a possible double play and allowing a run to score. The baseball rulebook says players have to make a ‘‘bona fide attempt’’ not to slide past the bag. The second-base umpire said Happ hadn’t. Both Happ and batter Anthony Rizzo were called out, ending the inning and wiping the run off the scoreboard. ‘‘There was nothing egregiously dangerous on the part of our runner,’’ Maddon said after the game. ‘‘Don’t give me hyperbole and office-created rules because I’m not into those things.’’ Protecting players is part of managers’ job descriptions, but it always has bothered me that the ire skippers direct at umpires or the other team never seems to find its way to their own guys. The Cubs aren’t playing well, but you’d never know it from the way Maddon describes his team, which is this/close to breaking out, if you listen to him.

Would it kill him to let the reality of a blah start seep into his answers to reporters’ questions? If he’s worried he’ll lose his players with some pointed remarks, then he never really had them. Thirty errors, the third-highest total in the majors, should lead a manager to scream publicly, ‘‘For the sake of all that is good and right, catch the damn ball!’’ Perhaps Maddon really does hate the slide rule, which went into effect in 2016. But it’s just as likely he’s trying to take some heat off his scuffling team, which has lost three consecutive series and is 18-19 heading into a 10-game homestand that starts Tuesday. If so, it’s not working. Maddon said recently that the defending World Series champions’ early-season schedule might be the culprit behind a sub-.500 start. ‘‘I think right from the beginning of the year our schedule’s been kind of awkward,’’ he said. ‘‘Nobody’s really had a chance to settle in.’’ An unwieldy schedule. As excuses go, that’s a new one. Why is Joe off to a rough start this season? Either the sun has been in his eyes or the dog ate his homework. -- Daily Herald Despite struggles, Schwarber has a plan for getting on track By Bruce Miles Kyle Schwarber isn't the only Cubs batter struggling, but he seems to be getting most of the negative attention. Part of that is because of where he's batting in the order: leadoff. Part is likely because of his exploits in the World Series last year and in the 2015 postseason. And part is because much is expected of Schwarber, a first-round draft pick with powerful offensive potential. "I guess when it's going bad, it goes bad," he said after the weekend series at St. Louis. "I feel like I've been putting good swings on balls and just not getting the results that I want. "I've just got to stay with the process. It's stinks but you can't let it bother you." Let's take a look at Schwarber's numbers before we get to the stats for several other players and the team as a whole. Entering Tuesday's series opener at Wrigley Field against Cincinnati, Schwarber has a batting line of .179/.313/.343 for an OPS of .656. He has 5 homers and 14 RBI. It's interesting to note that Schwarber leads the Cubs in walks (24) and strikeouts (44). If there are signs of encouragement, it's that Schwarber has a .313 on-base percentage despite a low batting average. That says something to manager Joe Maddon. "It's hard to hit for a high number if you have too many at-bats, meaning you are putting too many bad pitches in play, you're not accepting your walks, you're not staying in the zone," said Maddon. "It's just hard. It's hard to hit .300, even .280 if you're constantly getting out of your zone. "If you want that number to be good, where it says 'average,' to me you have to keep an organized strike zone and not build up so many at-bats."

The other number to flag is Schwarber's batting average on balls in play (BABIP). That number is .224. The league average generally settles at about .300. If the BABIP is significantly lower than .300, it usually means a batter is hitting into bad luck, with line drives and hard-hit flyballs being caught. In Schwarber's case, the low BABIP also is affected by teams shifting against him, turning singles or doubles to right field into groundouts to a fielder positioned in short right. Other numbers to watch are the percentages of "hard" and "soft" contact Schwarber makes. According to FanGraphs, Schwarber's hard contact has dropped from 39.7 percent in 2015 (Schwarber missed almost all of last season with a knee injury) to 33.3 percent this year. The soft contact percentage has gone up from 15.4 to 21.1. "I'm seeing great swings -- ball fouled back, like straight back," Maddon said. "It's not coming over our dugout. Once in awhile it's pulled on something soft. But a lot of them are going straight back, meaning he's just underneath the ball." As for the leadoff spot, Schwarber said it is not playing on his mind. "I don't think the leadoff spot has changed what's been going on," he said. "I squared some balls up and wasn't able to get a hit or anything like that. It's part of the game. It's baseball. That's why it's a game of failure. You've got to learn from your mistakes and go with the good. It's a crazy game. It can put you in a great place, and it can put you in a bad place. So you try to stay right here, stay right in the middle." He also said he has been able to hang in there mentally with the early struggles. "Obviously it gets frustrating," he admitted. "You feel you put a good swing on a ball, and you're just not getting your result. It's funny. I've just got to keep going with the approach. I'm going to stay positive every day. I'm still going to be confident. "Many hitters have gone through what I've been going through, and you've just got to keep going with it." Other Cubs hitters aren't tearing it up either, and the team missed defending MVP Kris Bryant over the weekend as he battled a stomach bug. A quick look: • Anthony Rizzo is at .213/.351/.383 with 6 homers and 19 RBI. As with Schwarber, the difference between batting average and OBP is a good thing for Rizzo. • Addison Russell has a line of .226/.295/.353. • Willson Contreras is at .226/.293/.396. • And Javier Baez has a line of .236/.274/.445. Overall, the Cubs are 71-for-332 (. 214) with runners in scoring position. That ranked last in the National League entering Monday and ahead of Kansas City, Cleveland and Oakland in the major leagues. Hitting with runners in scoring position is more of a random stat and not predictive, so it's best to keep an eye on things such as runs scored, OBP and walks. The Cubs ranked first in walks and OBP last year, and they were second in runs scored on the way to a world championship. Entering Monday, they ranked first in the NL in walks, eighth in runs and ninth in OBP. Better approaches should lead to better plate appearances, and that should lead to better results for the Cubs. --

Daily Herald How's this for a White Sox-Cubs trade? Quintana for Schwarber By Scot Gregor It's a trade match made in heaven -- Chicago baseball heaven. The Chicago White Sox send starting pitcher Jose Quintana to the Chicago Cubs for the man without a position, Kyle Schwarber. Straight-up deal. Quintana moves to the upper end of the Cubs' leaky rotation and Schwarber instantly fills the Sox's gaping void at designated hitter. A great trade for both clubs. Let's do this, now. And let's explain why. The White Sox are rebuilding, and they have stockpiled some promising young starting pitchers in the minor leagues. Michael Kopech, Reynaldo Lopez, Lucas Giolito and Dane Dunning all were added in off-season trades, and Carson Fulmer, Tyler Danish, Spencer Adams and Alec Hansen are homegrown arms with major-league potential, Quintana is an established high-end starter, and even though he has struggled a bit early (2-5, 4.38 ERA), you can mark down the 28-year-old lefty for a fifth straight season with 200 or more innings pitched and an ERA well south of 4.00. Equally enticing, Quintana is under club control through the 2020 season at a total cost of only $36 million. He is a valuable trade chip, and Sox general manager Rick Hahn already has turned down several offers he believed were substandard for a player of Quintana's quality. As for Schwarber, a wildly popular player for the defending World Series champions, would the Cubs even consider trading him? At the beginning of the season, I'd say the answer was a resounding no. Six weeks in, you'd have to assume Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein has adjusted the answer to a definite maybe. Epstein has to realize the rotation needs help. Through Sunday's play, Cubs starters had the 20th-highest ERA (4.47) in the major leagues. Quintana instantly helps bring that number down, and he also gives the Cubs insurance in the event Jake Arrieta and/or John Lackey move on at the end of the current season. As for Schwarber, he fills a hole at DH the White Sox were unable to plug with Adam Dunn, Adam LaRoche and, yes, Cody Asche, who was optioned to Class AAA Charlotte on Sunday after batting .105 with 1 home run, 4 RBI and 21 strikeouts in 57 at-bats. Schwarber isn't faring must better than Asche with a .179 average, 5 homers, 14 RBI and 44 strikeouts in 134 at-bats, but it looks to be a classic case of a player taking his defensive issues to the plate.

In my opinion, Schwarber is not a left fielder, and he's not a catcher. He's a designated hitter, and his big bat is needed as much on the South Side as Quintana's arm is needed on the North Side. -- Cubs.com Cubs need Schwarber to get going from leadoff By Carrie Muskat CHICAGO -- Hitting coach John Mallee joked with Kyle Schwarber that if there was a way to come up with a percentage for good at-bats, the Cubs' leadoff man would be among the leaders in the National League. Instead, the numbers say Schwarber is scuffling. "I guess when it's going bad, it goes bad," said Schwarber, who went 0-for-11 in the Cubs' three-game series against the Cardinals, and is batting .179 overall. "I feel I've been putting good swings on balls and just not getting the result I want. I've just got to stay with the process. It stinks, but you can't let it bother you. I'm going to keep going about my business and just keep going along with it." As the leadoff man, Schwarber is batting .188 in 32 games. Dexter Fowler, whom Schwarber replaced, isn't doing much better, hitting .217 for the Cardinals in 28 games. Has Schwarber changed his approach now that he's batting first? "Not at all," Schwarber said. "I don't think the leadoff spot had changed what's been going on. I squared some balls up and wasn't able to get a hit or anything like that. It's part of the game, it's baseball, and that's why it's a game of failure and you have to learn from your mistakes and go with the good. It's a crazy game." The expectations were high for Schwarber, who made a miraculous comeback from two torn ligaments in his left knee, suffered in the third game of the 2016 season, to be the designated hitter in the World Series. He went 7-for-17 with two RBIs and three walks in five games against the Indians. "What he did in the World Series is kind of unusual," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. "We all have so much faith in him, and we all know how good he is. Everyone's expecting the world out of him right now. I can't tell you he's pressing. I don't know that. Talking to him, he seems to be fine. He's going through a tough moment, but he's really good. It's one of those things we have to ride." Schwarber isn't the only Cub struggling lately. Anthony Rizzo went 2-for-16 with five walks on the Cubs' six-game road trip to Denver and St. Louis, and he is batting .213 overall. Addison Russell has been battling a sore right shoulder and has gone 5-for-36 (.139) in 11 May games. Ian Happ, promoted from Triple-A Iowa on Saturday, was the bright spot offensively, going 3-for-7 with a home run and a double in two games against the Cardinals. He's the first Cub since Jorge Soler to record an extra-base hit in each of his first two games. Happ didn't flinch when inserted into the No. 2 spot, filling in for Kris Bryant, who was sidelined with a stomach virus. Last year, Maddon's message to Fowler was, "You go, we go." Schwarber hasn't been able to get things going. "Mentally, it gets frustrating," Schwarber said. "You feel you put a good swing on the ball and you're not getting a good result. I just have to keep going with the approach, stay positive every day. I'm never going up there thinking I'm going to get an out. I'm going to stay with my mind-set and keep approaching what I'm doing." "I've seen great swings," Maddon said. "He's just a click underneath the baseball."

-- Cubs.com Butler credits Arrieta for steering him right By Carrie Muskat CHICAGO -- If Eddie Butler has a good season, it may be partly because of conversations the right-hander had this spring with Cubs starter Jake Arrieta, who stressed the importance of being yourself. "That's what Jake did, and it got him get back to being the dominating pitcher he is," Butler said. Butler threw six shutout innings in his Cubs debut last Friday against the Cardinals, and he will make his next start (his first at Wrigley Field this season) on Friday against the Brewers. In his career with the Rockies, he had only one outing in which he threw six shutout innings (May 8, 2016, vs. the Giants). Arrieta remembers their conversations in Mesa, Ariz. "You can tell he's got a good idea of what he's doing out there," Arrieta said of Butler, 26, who was acquired in February from the Rockies for Minor League pitcher James Farris. "I think the first thing you've got to do is put everything in the strike zone -- and I'm not saying flip it in there and throw the same pitch after pitch after pitch." What Arrieta suggested is that Butler establish his pitches for strikes early in the game and not try to finesse them on the corners. "When you're in the zone with one pitch and not in the zone with the other, [hitters] will disregard [the one out of the zone], and if you happen to throw it for a strike here or there, they'll take it and sit on the fastball," Arrieta said. "Throw them the hard cutter and the curveball and the changeup all in the zone early, as early in the game as you possibly can, and it really puts the hitters in a tough spot. That's what I tried to relay to him." Butler, who went 6-16 with a 6.50 ERA in 36 career games (28 starts) with the Rockies, said building his own game plan and understanding how he wants to attack hitters is key. "The big thing was taking ownership of it," Butler said. "I took that to heart." Butler knew Arrieta was the one to talk to in Spring Training. While with the Orioles, Arrieta compiled a 20-25 record and a 5.46 ERA in 69 games (63 starts). Since joining the Cubs, Arrieta is 58-24 with a 2.72 ERA, winning the National League Cy Young Award in 2015. "No one knows what going through your delivery feels like as well as you do," Arrieta said. "When something's off, you know it. ... Sometimes it's hard to make that correction, and it's constant work." -- ESPNChicago.com What's wrong with the Cubs? By ESPN Staff Should Joe Maddon shake up the lineup? Jesse Rogers: If leadoff man Kyle Schwarber were the only struggling player, it might make sense. But Anthony Rizzo is hitting .213, Addison Russell is .226, and Ben Zobrist is .223. Batting average isn't the tell-all about a player, but when that many individuals are struggling, it's hard to imagine that just changing the order will make much of a difference. Maddon can do it, but the Cubs' best hitters need to be the best hitters, no matter the batting order.

Dave Schoenfield: Shaking up the lineup isn't a solution. It doesn't solve the bigger issue, which is on-base percentage sinkholes throughout the lineup. Javier Baez has a low OBP, Russell has a low OBP, Albert Almora has a low OBP -- none of that is surprising. It's also possible that Schwarber just isn't the hitter the Cubs believe. Remember, even after that hot start in 2015, he hit .177 over his final 133 plate appearances. His strikeout rate is high, and there's no indication yet that he can hit left-handers. He projected as a low-average, decent OBP slugger -- but not a superstar hitter. Bradford Doolittle: The lineup will get going whether or not Schwarber is swapped out of the leadoff spot. Of the nine players with the most plate appearances for the Cubs, eight have a below-average OPS+, with Kris Bryant as the exception. That isn't going to last. Schwarber will get hot at some point, as will Rizzo, Zobrist, etc. If you want to use Zobrist in the leadoff spot to get a few more balls in play, though, that might make sense, especially against lefties. Why is the defense regressing? Rogers: I think the numbers are misleading. If you look at the statistics, Schwarber is the one guy dragging the defense down. That should not be surprising; everyone knew his play in left field wasn't going to be his strong suit. I would contend that Baez is more disappointing. He was all-world last year but has already made five errors and has generally not looked as sharp. The rest of the team has been OK, though Willson Contreras needs to rein it in a little when it comes to throwing the ball. Other than left field, I don't think defense will be a yearlong problem. Schoenfield: Guess what? If you put a slow, converted catcher in left field, your defense is going to be worse. It's not all on Schwarber, but he has been a big liability at minus-5 defensive runs saved. Last year, the outfield converted 93 percent of fly balls into outs, the best rate in the majors. This year, the Cubs rank 27th at 89 percent. The big surprise is that Baez hasn't rated well, at least according to the metrics. Last year, he was at plus-16 DRS across three positions; this year, he's at plus-1. Range factor isn't a tell-all, but Baez made 5.05 plays per nine innings at second base last year, compared to 4.32 this year, so the raw numbers indicate that he is making fewer plays. As is the case with a lot of things about the 2017 Cubs, some regression was likely. They're still a good defensive team -- just not a great one. Doolittle: Part of it seems like it has to be intangible: They're just not dialed in, as Miguel Montero suggested. They've given up more unearned runs than anybody. But the pitching problems extend to the defense as well. The Cubs' .120 well-hit average against last season was the best in the majors, but that's up to .162 this season, which is 24th. If the pitching gets better, I think the defense will as well. But there's no getting around the fact that Schwarber is limited in left. How worried are you about Jake Arrieta? Rogers: I'm very worried when it comes to Arrieta. His velocity's down, and I've never seen him be so easy to hit. He's pitching for his next contract, so at some point, that might mess with his head as well. If the velocity returns, perhaps his nastiness will as well, but right now he's just an arm that is prone to some good days and some bad ones. The Cubs are counting on -- and need -- more. Schoenfield: I'm a little worried about his performance but not overly concerned. Here's a fun stat: Over his past 24 starts, Arrieta has allowed 21 home runs; over his 24 starts before that, he allowed 21 earned runs. It has been close to a year now since the peak Arrieta of 2015 and early 2016. If there's good news, it's that he isn't walking batters like last season, but that has translated to more hits and more home runs. I don't think we'll see ace Arrieta again, but he's better than a guy with a 5.44 ERA. Regression across the board was to be expected after last year's historically great rotation. The rotation enters the week 11th in FanGraphs wins above replacement, and that's with Arrieta struggling and Brett Anderson being a disaster, so I still think this can be a top-five rotation by season's end. Doolittle: I'm fairly worried, especially about Arrieta and Kyle Hendricks. Hendricks' velocity dip is amazing considering how little of it he had to begin with, and it doesn't seem to be getting better. I also wonder if that has contributed to the spike in his walks, as he's trying to be too fine. However, I'm more worried about Arrieta, who

has also lost a lot of zip and looks very hittable without that explosion on his pitches. I think the Cubs will have to aggressively pursue a rotation upgrade. Eddie Butler can't save the day by himself. What change would help the most? Rogers: I'm not sure it's a move, but any semblance of consistency from the starting staff would set things up nicely for the rest of the team. That might mean adding a pitcher, but we're not at that point in the season yet, so it has to come from within. Butler made a nice debut, and three of four other guys all had nice turns through the rotation recently, so perhaps it's coming. Schoenfield: Rizzo and Schwarber have to hit. The lineup was built around those guys and league MVP Bryant, and two of the three have struggled at the plate. As mentioned, most of the other issues in the lineup were predictable. Rizzo hitting .213 and Schwarber struggling with a .656 on-base plus slugging weren't. Doolittle: There are no half-measures to be taken here. The Cubs need to add a couple of arms, but that was true before the season started. They have hitters and pitchers underperforming, according to their track records, up and down the roster. Despite that, the Cubs are still only a game under .500 and have a positive run differential. There shouldn't be a Giants or Blue Jays level of panic. How far will the Cubs go this season? Rogers: I never thought they would repeat because getting a 108-year monkey off your back takes a lot out of you. But if they don't win the division, it's a colossal disappointment. But we aren't there yet. They're still a 93-95 win team, perhaps a win or two fewer, but it just won't be as easy as it was last year. That really shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. The only question in my mind now is: How hard will it actually be? Schoenfield: I still project them to win the division. Basically, no player has exceeded expectations so far, and a whole bunch have underperformed. They're not going to win 103 games again, but remember, they went 12-14 in July last year. Even good teams can have long stretches of .500 ball. Doolittle: The Cubs remain very much in the mix to repeat as champs, but they are not clearly the best team in baseball at this moment. I'd put the Astros, Dodgers and Nationals ahead of them. In retrospect, I think we'll look back at the start of this season and see it as an almost inevitable outcome of last year's highly scrutinized journey. I'm confident that the Cubs will still win the NL Central, and they remain my pick to win it all. They need to step it up, though, because there are some budding powerhouses elsewhere in baseball. --