Chicago Cubs: Time to move “Bryzzo” down the lineup
Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo are struggling mightily to date for the Chicago Cubs. If Joe Maddon was smart, he’d move both down the lineup.
Who would have thought before this season began that both Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo would prove to be the weak links in the Chicago Cubs‘ lineup?
Bryant, following an injury-free offseason, was supposed to re-emerge back to his 2016 MVP-self. Rizzo, following a terrific Spring Training performance that saw him bat .362 in 19 contests, was supposed to carry his hot stretch over into the regular season.
Unfortunately, neither Bryant nor Rizzo have swung the bats well as we begin to approach the back-end of April. Bryant is currently batting just .219 with 1 home-run in 16 games played. Rizzo is even worse: batting .159, although he does have two more home-runs than Bryant to date.
Neither player is pulling their own weight to help the Cubs right now on offense. This is very concerning, considering that players such Daniel Descalso (.364 BA), Jason Heyward (.353 BA), Javier Baez (.324 BA), and Willson Contreras (.319 BA), are all carrying the workload for an offense that currently ranks 5th highest in the majors in team batting average, (.269), along with averaging the third-highest runs-per-game (6.06).
Currently sitting one game below .500 on this short-lived season (8-9), imagine how much better the Cubs would be right now if Rizzo and Bryant rediscovered how to hit?
Until that happens — and there’s no sure sign of that becoming a reality anytime soon — Joe Maddon should move both Bryant and Rizzo way down in the lineup. Reward the players who are currently carrying the offense, like Baez, Contreras, Descalso, and Heyward. Give them more opportunities to hit in the heart of the lineup alongside players who can reliably get on base frequently to create more scoring opportunities.
To this point, Rizzo and Bryant are just about automatic outs waiting to happen. Rizzo hasn’t gotten a hit in his last four games played, and Bryant swing appears worse than ever before…even with a new hitting coach who has already gotten the majority of his players to buy into his philosophy.
Having Bryant and Rizzo bat lower in the lineup would be one of the smartest decisions made by Maddon. He must send a message to all of his players that no matter who you are, if you’re not performing well, there are going to be some consequences.
This would be a huge wake-up call for both former all-stars. Bryant and Rizzo haven’t played well at all this season, and simply keeping them in their current two-three hole spots is only serving as a detriment to the team right now. It’s doing a disservice to the rest of their teammates, many of whom aren’t even getting their fair share of playing time over household names like Bryant and Rizzo.
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As everyone knows, this is a make-or-break season for the Cubs’ organization. They can’t afford too many slip-ups in their quest to get back to championship promise. Maddon and the rest of the organization need to hold players like Rizzo and Bryant accountable for their struggles, rather than just give them words of encouragement to build up their fragile psyche.
Maddon shouldn’t waste any time in figuring out what the best strategy is to fix “Bryzzo”. The best strategy is already right in front of him, even if it’s an unpopular one.