Cubs Have A New Offensive Approach That Seems To Be Working
It was hard to come by in games one and two, but the Chicago Cubs have since found their stride offensively. All six Cubs wins have come when the team scores five or more runs. The only game they have lost scoring five or more came at the hands of Monday night’s debacle.
In 2023, the Cubs scored an average of just about five runs per game, good for sixth-best in the league. But they struggled with their overall batting average, which was 254. The Cubs were at least putting the ball in play more compared to others. They had the ninth least strikeouts in 2023.
As 2024 began, the Cubs’ goal was to improve and make the playoffs. Beginning his second season as the Cubs hitting coach, Dustin Kelly went to the lab to figure out how to make that goal a reality.
This year, they are scoring 6.6 runs per game, second to the Atlanta Braves’ 7.0. It’s a small sample size, but what they have been working on has translated into their game results. It’s been pretty apparent what the plan of attack has been, and it was all but confirmed on Tuesday afternoon.
Cubs Approaching Plate With Patience To Get On Base, Slug, And Score Runs
Nico Hoerner joined the 670 The Score in Chicago Tuesday afternoon, where they talked about his approach at the plate in 2024. While Hoerner is batting an abysmal .157 on the year, he has been hitting the ball more square and is still getting on base. His on base percentage is .372, fourth best on the team, while drawing a team-high eight walks.
The secret seems to be the Cubs’ collective patience in waiting for the pitch they’re looking for to make solid contact while not swinging at the bad ones. It sounds simple enough, but if it were that easy, everyone would be good at it.
Dansby Swanson’s exit velocity on his contact is over 95 MPH almost 63% of the time. He’s currently batting .303 with a team-leading OPS of .991. Seiya Suzuki’s OPS is .909, and his average exit velocity is 95.1 MPH. Both guys have also forced six walks in ten games. And Ian Happ has rejuvenated his offense with a .352 average and .888 OPS.
The Cubs seem to be using a formula of being selective of their pitches and generating hard contact to score runs, and nobody is complaining about it. They’re tied for fourth in the league with runs scored and lead the way in collective on-base percentage.
Again, this is after 10/162 games. We still have a whole lot of baseball to play. But if this offense continues to score runs while the pitching and defense hold the opposition down, this team will be well on its way to becoming a factor in October once again.