Seiya Suzuki’s History-Making Start With the Cubs
No you did not. There is no way you thought Seiya Suzuki was going to start his MLB career this hot with the Cubs. And if you did, please send me the winning lotto numbers. Thanks.
Seiya Suzuki has been incredible through the first four games with the Cubs and he has already made MLB history following his first career multi-homer game against the Pirates on Tuesday. We’re not talking about Suzuki joining a list of other guys to accomplish something either. Seiya Suzuki is the list.
Seiya Suzuki of the @Cubs is the only MLB player with 8+ RBI and 4+ walks over his first 4 career games since RBI became an official stat in 1920.
— Stats By STATS (@StatsBySTATS) April 12, 2022
That’s 102 years of MLB history and Suzuki is the only player to do what he’s done after four games.
Overall, he’s 5-for-12, with three home runs, eight runs batted in and four walks. Suzuki’s power has so far lived up to the hype and he could have one more homer because there was one shot to right field at Wrigley against the Brewers that was knocked down by the wind that Suzuki thought was gone.
More importantly though, Suzuki’s approach has been excellent. We all love guys who can mash, but you also have to appreciate guys who know the strike zone and do not flail at everything. Suzuki mashes and he doesn’t chase. That’s a wonderful combination.
I totally get why we are all talking about Steven Kwan, but I can't remember a Cubs' debut as impressive as Seiya Suzuki's. ???????? pic.twitter.com/3VJyvb0Bdn
— Sara Sanchez (@BCB_Sara) April 13, 2022
That’s going to be key to Suzuki’s success because even when he does struggle (and he will eventually) you can count on him to at least contribute on offense by getting on base via walks and not being a complete black hole in the lineup.
Ian Happ is Good
Will this finally be a complete year for Ian Happ? We’ve seen him have great periods of being a good hitter, but we’ve also seen big struggles. But now there’s no pressure of not getting playing time. Outside of injury, Happ will be the starting left fielder for the Cubs and so far he’s off to an amazing start.
Happ is 7-for-10, with two doubles and a walk in three games. That comes after he hit 15 home runs from the start of August through the end of the 2021 season. In his final 223 plate appearances last year, Happ slashed .288/.363/.581.
So, it’s good to see Happ carrying the good vibes into 2022.