Ross Makes Surprising Change to Chicago Cubs Lineup Against Diamondbacks
Chicago Cubs manager David Ross made a surprising alteration to his lineup card in advance of Sunday's game.
With the Cubs having dropped the series' first three games to the Arizona Diamondbacks, on the brink of being swept, Ross swapped outfielders Seiya Suzuki and Ian Happ in the club's batting order.
Entering Sunday, Happ had started 138 of the Cubs' 143 games this season, playing in 140 of them. Happ had batted in the three-hole 115 times, and in the clean-up spot 20 times. Happ batted third or fourth in 135 of his starts, and in his three other starts, he batted fifth.
Happ bats in the sixth spot for the first time all season, Sunday. The decision to drop Happ in the lineup comes after four months of lackluster production from the left fielder in a premium spot in the batting order. Since May 13, the former Cincinnati Bearcat has slashed .219/.333/.727 over 103 games. Happ opened the season with a league-leading .435 On Base Percentage through his first 38 games. But over the past month, Happ's OBP has taken a nosedive. In his last 38 games, he's gotten on base at a .291 clip.
Three weeks ago, we asked the question, "Should Ross Drop Ian Happ in Chicago Cubs' Batting Order?" and days later, Ross defended his decision to stick with Happ in the three-hole, as he was asked why he had not switched Happ out of the three spot in his lineup.
“What’s it do to the team dynamic? What’s it do to the confidence of a guy? Consistency from a manager and belief in a player never really gets talked about enough and I believe in those things outside of just performance,” Ross said.
“There’s a lot that goes into believing in your guys through good and bad, and Ian has shown me over the time being his manager that he’s going to go through some moments of just not being his best, but he’s going to come out the other side because he’s consistent in his attitude and his work," Ross added.
Even without much production from Happ in the top third of the lineup, the Cubs offense was soaring. At the time, Ross saw no reason to mess with what was working.
“There’s a lot of things that you can look at from a lineup standpoint, but since we’ve been going well, Ian’s been in the three hole,” Ross said. “We’ve been one of the top run scoring teams in the second half in Major League Baseball and we have a top six offense in all of baseball. Why would I mess with that? If it ain’t broke don’t fix it kind of thing, right?”
But with the Cubs only scoring a combined four runs over their last three games, Ross shook things up Sunday.
Suzuki had been batting sixth for the Cubs as of late. Ross benched Suzuki last month, but in his 29 games since returning to the lineup, the sophomore outfielder has been on a tear, slashing .361/.407/1.120.
In his first at bat in his new lineup spot, Suzuki doubled home a run, giving the Cubs an early 1-0 lead. It seems Ross pushed the right button here.
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