June 25, 2017

ESPNChicago.com, Javier Baez reverses course to power Cubs in right direction http://www.espn.com/blog/chicago/cubs/post/_/id/44687/javier-baez-reverses-course-to-power-cubs-in-right-direction

CSNChicago.com, Jon Lester: It’s Go Time For Cubs http://www.csnchicago.com/chicago-cubs/jon-lester-its-go-time-cubs

CSNChicago.com, Anthony Rizzo Won’t Get ‘Wally Pipped’ Out Of Cubs Leadoff Spot http://www.csnchicago.com/chicago-cubs/anthony-rizzo-wont-get-wally-pipped-out-cubs-leadoff-spot

CSNChicago.com, Ben Zobrist Doubtful For Nationals Showdown And Where Things Stand With Banged-Up Cubs http://www.csnchicago.com/chicago-cubs/ben-zobrist-doubtful-nationals-showdown-and-where-things-stand-banged-cubs

CSNChicago.com, The Kyle Schwarber Reboot Begins Monday In Iowa http://www.csnchicago.com/chicago-cubs/kyle-schwarber-reboot-begins-monday-iowa

Chicago Tribune, Cubs overcome early deficit for 5-3 victory over Marlins http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-cubs-marlins-spt-0625-20170624-story.html

Chicago Tribune, Ian Happ's surge key amid absence of Ben Zobrist http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-ian-happ-surge-cubs-notes-spt-0625-20170624-story.html

Chicago Tribune, Anthony Rizzo receives celebrity reception for 9th-inning cameo vs. Marlins http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-cubs-anthony-rizzo-20170624-story.html

Chicago Tribune, Cubs hope Javier Baez's 'big swing' will lead to opposite field hitting success http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-cubs-javier-baez-swing-20170624-story.html

Chicago Tribune, Ben Zobrist likely to remain out through Nationals series with wrist injury http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-cubs-ben-zobrist-20170624-story.html

Chicago Sun-Times, Why Jon Lester could be the game-changer for the Cubs’ season http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/why-jon-lester-could-be-the-game-changer-for-the-cubs-season/

Chicago Sun-Times, Still the GLHOAT, Anthony Rizzo won’t be ‘Wally Pipped’ after day off http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/still-the-glhoat-anthony-rizzo-wont-be-wally-pipped-after-day-off/

Daily Herald, A journeyman's tale with a Chicago Cubs connection http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/20170624/a-journeymans-tale-with-a-chicago-cubs-connection

Daily Herald, Ostrowski: Chicago Cubs' rotation starting to deliver http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/20170624/ostrowski-chicago-cubs-rotation-starting-to-deliver

Cubs.com, Out to build on 1st W, Montgomery faces Fish http://m.cubs.mlb.com/news/article/238549972/out-to-build-on-1st-w-montgomery-faces-fish

Cubs.com, Cubs rally in Miami on Lester's milestone day http://m.cubs.mlb.com/news/article/238568746/cubs-jon-lester-overcomes-homer-beats-marlins/

Cubs.com, Young Baez's hitting maturation on display http://m.cubs.mlb.com/news/article/238584016/cubs-javier-baez-maturing-at-the-plate/

Cubs.com, Maddon rests Rizzo, talks keeping Cubs fresh http://m.cubs.mlb.com/news/article/238532366/cubs-leadoff-man-anthony-rizzo-gets-day-off/

-- ESPNChicago.com Javier Baez reverses course to power Cubs in right direction By Jesse Rogers MIAMI -- It was only a day ago that Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon was lamenting his team's inability to use the opposite field on a consistent basis. That message must have made it to the clubhouse quickly because Maddon's young hitters bucked a bad trend in a decisive sixth inning on Saturday, leading to a 5-3 victory. They did something they don't normally do: They went to the opposite field, and that culminated in a two-run, tie-breaking double by Javier Baez, who crushed a ball to right. "I think my power is to right-center," Baez said after the game. "I mean, I know it. Sometimes I get out of my plan trying to pull the ball. Once I get in that lane, hopefully I'll stay there." Baez's big hit came after Addison Russell's double to right and lefty Ian Happ's single to left, which showed that the Cubs took Maddon's message to heart. Baez, in particular, continues to show flashes of stardom, but those are often followed by a series of bad at-bats, especially against right-handed pitching. Those have come less and less this season. He's hitting .248 off righties, up from his .234 career average against them. "I bet he has as much power to that side as he does to the pull side," Maddon said. "As he learns to do this better, he'll hit more home runs to right-center based on what the pitchers are trying to do to him. That doesn't happen overnight. You have to be patient." The progress for Baez is coming, but it's slow -- or at least it feels slow. According to ESPN Stats & Information, from 2015 to 2016, Baez hit a total of one home run to the opposite field. He already has two this year. What might be most interesting about him is that he had three opposite-field home runs when he first came up in 2014, which shows that he has gotten away from what made him so dangerous: power to all fields. "Trying to get my timing down," Baez said. "[And] not trying so hard." Baez continues to seem like a player who could have super stardom written all over him, considering he has power and can play elite defense. That's why many dismiss the notion of trading him, but that's also why those around the league consider him a high-value target. Either way, he hasn't yet reached his potential. Then again, neither have a lot of the Cubs' young hitters, and that made Saturday's performance both standout and impressive. "Just trying to get these guys to understand there's more than one side to a baseball field," Maddon said. "As we do that, we'll hit better in situations. That's the key to being able to drive in runs. "You have to permit the ball to get deeper. You have to be centered mentally. You can't just go up there and turn and launch on the pull side." That last thought could have been meant solely for Baez, who had some massive swings in trying to pull the ball before he took a pitch where it was thrown for the game-winning hit. "He can keep the big swing," Maddon said. "That doesn't bother me at all. It's about what he's trying to do with the big swing. You saw that when he permitted the ball to travel and shot the ball over the right fielder's head."

Baez seems to understand the book on him, which says to go away with some occasional inside fastballs. That's why Maddon believes that he can hit more home runs to right-center than even left, simply because it's where the opposition is pitching him. "Pitchers throw home runs more than hitters hit them," Maddon said. As Baez has made slow progress, so have the Cubs overall. Offense doesn't always show up -- especially against right-handed pitching -- but no longer does it feel like the Cubs are completely stuck in the mud. An upcoming four-game series in Washington can change all that for the worse. But as bad as things have been, the Cubs can move back into first place on Sunday when they go for the series win. The ceiling for Baez continues to be sky high, and that could apply to a group of young hitters. "When you're filling out that [scouting] form, the area you have the most latitude is hitting," Maddon said. It wouldn't be a bad time to start touching that ceiling, starting with Baez, who got almost as many cheers from the pro-Cubs crowd as hometown hero Anthony Rizzo did. "I'm doing my work, staying [in] my routine," Baez said. "I feel real good at the plate." -- CSNChicago.com Jon Lester: It’s Go Time For Cubs By Patrick Mooney MIAMI – Jon Lester dropped his head and wiped the sweat from his face. The Cubs ace didn’t jerk his neck and twist his body, hoping the swing and the sound somehow fooled him. The slow turnaround revealed the obvious – the 75-mph curveball out of his left hand flew over the left-field wall and nearly into the Clevelander bar billed as an adult playground. Lester gripped the next ball, stared out into the visual noise at Marlins Park and went to work late Saturday afternoon after J.T. Realmuto’s two-out, three-run homer in the first inning. This is the bulldog determination and tunnel vision that’s been the antidote to the big-market pressures at Fenway Park and Wrigley Field and made Lester such a big-game pitcher. “You really just have to lock it down,” Lester said after doing just that in a 5-3 win. “You have to try to figure out a way to pitch innings. That was one thing I learned at an early age in Boston with ‘Schill’ (Curt Schilling) and Josh (Beckett). It doesn’t matter. Now we start over. You have to take that mindset of ‘It’s back to zero’ and not keep looking at the scoreboard.” From that Realmuto moment, Lester retired the next 13 hitters he faced, 15 of the next 16 and 18 of his last 20 at a time when the Cubs needed that performance to buy time for their young hitters, weather a series of injuries and survive a brutal schedule. Lester believed enough in the coming waves of talent to sign with a last-place team after the 2014 season, and got rewarded with his third World Series ring, continually impressed with this group’s poise and maturity. The day after getting shut out for the sixth time this season, Addison Russell, Ian Happ, Javier Baez and Albert Almora Jr. – four 24-and-under players – combined to go 7-for-15 with five RBI and four runs scored. “It’s a test for everybody,” Lester said. “These guys are kind of getting broken in early. They’re going to figure it out and we’re going to go. Now it seems like our guys are really feeling comfortable at the plate. We’re having good at-bats, normal at-bats.

“The results will come. This is, obviously, a results-driven industry. But the plans – as far as on the mound and in the batter’s box – just look a lot smoother right now, a lot cleaner and hopefully we can just keep playing good baseball.” The Cubs are 38-36, a half-game behind the first-place Milwaukee Brewers and in position to win three consecutive series for the first time since April. Whether or not Lester (5-4, 3.83 ERA) returns to Little Havana for the All-Star Game, he is the bellwether for this rotation. “Jonny’s just got this thing going on right now,” manager Joe Maddon said. “He knows where the ball is going and he gets the high-number velocity when he wants to. He’s not just pitching at 92, 93, 94 (mph). It’s in his back pocket when he needs it. And he gets it with command when he wants it. “As well as I’ve seen him pitch – I know he had a great run last year also – from a stuff perspective, command perspective, it’s as good as he can pitch.” This $155 million investment will at some point become a sunk cost. The Cubs understand the history of nine-figure contracts for pitchers and how desperately they need reinforcements. But almost 100 innings into this title defense, Lester feels like he’s just getting started. “I feel better now than I did in April and May, for sure,” Lester said. “I think bigger bodies just take a while sometimes. Some years are different than others. Some years you come out like gangbusters and you’re ready to go and the body feels fine. And other years it takes a while to get into that rhythm of pitching every five days again. This was one of those years.” -- CSNChicago.com Anthony Rizzo Won’t Get ‘Wally Pipped’ Out Of Cubs Leadoff Spot By Patrick Mooney MIAMI – The day after watching his .500-ish team get shut out again, and as the growing pains continued for his young hitters, Cubs manager Joe Maddon benched the self-proclaimed greatest leadoff guy of all-time. “I’m hoping Jon Jay goes 5-for-5 today,” Anthony Rizzo said before Saturday’s 5-3 win at Marlins Park. “Wally Pipped out of that spot.” In the middle of a stretch where the Cubs will play 17 days in a row, Maddon figured he would give Rizzo a break against a Miami lefty (Justin Nicolino) instead of Sunday’s right-handed starter (Edinson Volquez). An added bonus: The All-Star first baseman grew up in South Florida and has a home and family here and reigning National League MVP Kris Bryant is comfortable in the other corner-infield spot. “Get him off his feet,” Maddon said. “He’s been going after it pretty hard being the leadoff hitter. I think he’s done a wonderful job, obviously, so I don’t want to beat him up. I don’t want to beat up our bullpen. I don’t want to beat up our players right now. We still have a long way to go. “If you ride him too hard, man, the point of diminishing returns will set in. All factors considered, I thought it was the right thing to do.” Rizzo put up a .700 on-base percentage leading off the last 10 games, homering three times to jumpstart the offense and enjoying the smack talk with his teammates. Maddon said Rizzo will be back at the top of the order on Sunday, and the manager doesn’t have many options after the failed Kyle Schwarber experiment and Ben Zobrist’s wrist injury forced him onto the disabled list. Do you expect to be back in the leadoff spot?

“I play first base for the Cubs,” Rizzo said. “I don’t make the lineup card.” Are you still the greatest leadoff hitter of all-time? “For the week I was,” Rizzo said with a smile. “I said that after the first day.” The loudest moment on Saturday from the crowd of 25,448 came when Rizzo walked up to the plate as a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning. “I had no idea,” Maddon said. “I was looking around. Did somebody walk in the door? Was it A-Rod and J-Lo?” -- CSNChicago.com Ben Zobrist Doubtful For Nationals Showdown And Where Things Stand With Banged-Up Cubs By Patrick Mooney MIAMI – As their World Series MVP continues to deal with a lingering wrist injury, the Cubs aren’t expecting Ben Zobrist back for a showdown against the Washington Nationals. “Not yet,” manager Joe Maddon said Saturday at Marlins Park. Dusty Baker’s Nationals are on pace for close to 100 wins and have the kind of elite power pitching – Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg – Zobrist has shown over and over again that he can handle in the postseason. The Cubs will roll out a young, inexperienced lineup on Monday at Nationals Park, the beginning of a four-game series and a potential playoff preview. Zobrist injured his left wrist with an awkward swing on Memorial Day weekend and tried to play through it and now might be back closer to the Fourth of July. The Cubs aren’t even at the point of finalizing the logistics for a Zobrist rehab assignment in the minors. “We’ve talked about it, but we haven’t said: ‘This is the date,’” Maddon said. “It’s still not in that planning stage yet: ‘OK, this feels good, worked out a couple days and now we’re going to go there on Tuesday.’ We haven’t said that.” A look at where things stand with the rest of the banged-up Cubs: • The Cubs expect Kyle Hendricks to test his right hand (tendinitis) and throw by the end of this weekend, with Maddon keeping the door open for a potential return before the All-Star break. • The Cubs sidelined Jason Heyward because they could only play shorthanded for so long, but they expected the cut on his left hand to heal before the end of his 10-day stay on the disabled list, which could put him in play for the last game in Washington. • Remember Brett Anderson? The talented, injury-prone lefty who made the rotation out of spring training and put up an 8.18 ERA in six starts – before going on the disabled list with a low back strain – will begin his rehab assignment on Sunday at Double-A Tennessee. • In the middle of an 11-games-in-11-days road trip, Maddon is looking forward to the possibilities with a healthy Zobrist and a productive Ian Happ and what it would mean to have two switch-hitters with defensive flexibility. “He’s his Mini-Me right now,” Maddon said. “When you get them both back, it really opens up a lot on a daily basis, regarding giving guys a day off, where do you want to play them, batting-order construction. They’re very versatile players and there are a lot of similarities.” --

CSNChicago.com The Kyle Schwarber Reboot Begins Monday In Iowa By Patrick Mooney MIAMI – This isn’t a Tommy La Stella situation. The Cubs purposely told Kyle Schwarber to take a few days off to decompress before reporting to Triple-A Iowa. The reboot will begin Monday in Des Moines. “We’re doing it to hopefully reset him, get him back up with a fresh start,” manager Joe Maddon said. “As you would expect, he was very professional about it, understood it entirely. “There’s no actual timetable. I don’t anticipate it to be long. But we’ll see how it plays out, give him a little bit of room to get things right and then move it forward from there.” The Cubs broke the news to Schwarber after Wednesday’s 3-2 loss to the San Diego Padres at Wrigley Field, where the entire lineup went 1-for-27 outside of rookie Ian Happ’s two-run homer. It left Schwarber hitting .171 with a .673 OPS, not enough to justify his 12 home runs and suspect outfield defense. The Iowa Cubs are in the middle of a four-game series this weekend in Round Rock, Texas. The Cubs hope Schwarber can regain his confidence and almost become a trade-deadline addition, reenergizing the team the way he did in 2015, when he blasted 16 homers in 69 games and five more in the playoffs. Under entirely different circumstances in 2012, future All-Star first baseman Anthony Rizzo used 70 games with Iowa to rework his swing and make adjustments after bombing his audition with the Padres. “He’s going to go down and be able to exhale a little bit,” Rizzo said. “Hopefully, he can smooth things out. We’re all confident he will. Just do the best down there to get back up here and to be the Kyle Schwarber that we all know and love.” -- Chicago Tribune Cubs overcome early deficit for 5-3 victory over Marlins By Mark Gonzales After allowing a three-run home run to J.T. Realmuto in the first inning, Jon Lester heeded the advice former Red Sox teammates Curt Schilling and Josh Beckett gave him. "Now it starts over to zero," Lester said. "You have to get that mindset that it's back to zero and not keep looking at the scoreboard." After the homer, Lester retired While Lester responded by retiring 13 consecutive batters and 18 of the next 20. As he did so, the Cubs' young offense finally followed the suggestion from manager Joe Maddon and hitting coaches John Mallee and Eric Hinske to not try to pull every pitch. The long-awaited results were never as timely as they were Saturday as the Cubs overcame the early deficit for a a 5-3 victory over the Marlins. With the triumph, the Cubs (38-36) moved to within half a game of the first-place Brewers in the National League Central. In trying to pull so much, the Cubs' talented young hitters seemingly were being stubborn.

"(This season) is a test for everybody," Lester said. "You come off a long season like (2016) and a long season the year before. Then you had more guys in their first full year. I feel these guys have broken in early and are going to figure it out, and we're going to go. "Now it seems our guys are feeling very comfortable at the plate, like there are normal at-bats for our guys and the results will come. This is a result-driven industry. (Our) plans, as far as on the mound and in the batter's box, look a lot smoother and cleaner." Without Anthony Rizzo, who didn't start for only the second time this season, the Cubs' offense became more resourceful. Albert Almora Jr. poked an opposite-field double to right field to tie the game in the fourth. Addison Russell began the winning rally in the sixth when he drove an outside pitch to right for a double off reliever Nick Wittgren. After switch-hitter Ian Happ singled to center, Javier Baez — a notorious pull hitter — nearly spun himself into the ground after swinging and missing two pitches with vicious cuts. But Baez redeemed himself when he ripped a double to right to put the Cubs ahead for good. "We're just trying to get these guys to understand there's more than one side to a baseball field," Maddon said. "As we do that, we will hit better in situations. That's the key to be able to drive in runs. "When you're on the pull side and right-on-right or left-on-left, that's when a pitcher can take advantage of you." Maddon acknowledged the key to the success for Russell and Baez was acknowledging the outside pitches and not trying to pull them. "When you get to the point you understand (going with the pitch) and utilize the other side better, you can become very efficient very quickly. "Pitchers throw home runs more than hitters hit them." Baez, who has a six-game hitting streak, recognizes the benefits of using the entire field. "I think my power is to right-center," Baez said. "I know it. Sometimes I get out of my plan and pull the ball. Once I get in that lane, I often stay there." -- Chicago Tribune Ian Happ's surge key amid absence of Ben Zobrist By Mark Gonzales With the expectation that Ben Zobrist could miss next week's series against the National League East-leading Nationals, the Cubs are leaning more on rookie Ian Happ —whose current role mirrors the duties of Zobrist. "I'm using him that way, even defensively," manager Joe Maddon said. "He's his Mini-Me right now. It opens up a lot daily regarding giving guys days off, where do you want to play him, and batting order construction. "They're very versatile players. I think Happ has more power than Zo, but they're similar kind of players." The switch-hitting Happ continued his recent improvement Saturday when he had an opposite-field RBI single in the first inning, executed a sacrifice bunt during a two-run fourth and singled to set up Javier Baez's two-run, tie-breaking double in the sixth.

Happ is batting .555 (10-for-18) during a five-game hitting streak that has raised his average from .215 to .264. Happ has five home runs in his last 11 games. "He's re-adjusting back," said Maddon, who said Friday that Happ "pound for pound, he has as (much) power as I've seen." Happ's production is essential with Zobrist remaining in Chicago to continue rehab on his left wrist with no target date to start a minor-league rehab assignment. "As (Happ) continues to adjust to major-league pitching, he and Zobrist back at the same time would be nice," Maddon said. Rizzo back to top: First baseman Anthony Rizzo will return to the leadoff spot Sunday after not starting for only the second time this season. "It's a long year," Rizzo said before pinch-hitting in the ninth and lining to shortstop. "You have to be smart with your days and knowing if you take a day off now, it can help in the future." Extra innings: Jon Lester now has beaten every major-league team except the Red Sox. He never has faced the team with which he played in his first nine seasons. ... Kyle Schwarber is scheduled to play his first game for Triple-A Iowa on Monday night, the Cubs confirmed. ... Left-hander Brett Anderson (lower back strain) will start his minor-league rehab assignment Sunday for Double-A Tennessee. -- Chicago Tribune Anthony Rizzo receives celebrity reception for 9th-inning cameo vs. Marlins By Mark Gonzales It was supposed to be a simple pinch-hitting appearance Saturday for Anthony Rizzo, but even Cubs manager Joe Maddon was surprised to see his first base slugger receive a standing ovation in the ninth inning. "I didn't realize we were doing that for him," an amused Maddon said after witnessing a large majority of the fans at Marlins Park give Rizzo a thunderous applause as he stepped up to the plate. Many of those fans probably were just happy to see Rizzo, who grew up 50 minutes north of Marlins Park, step to the plate after Maddon elected to give him a rest and not start him for only the second time in 74 games. "I was looking around," Maddon continued. "Did someone walk in the door? Was it A-Rod and J-Lo (celebrity couple Alex Rodriguez and singer/actress Jennifer Lopez)? I didn’t know who came in? No, it was Anthony. It was pretty cool." Rizzo finished the at-bat by lining out to shortstop J.T. Riddle. -- Chicago Tribune Cubs hope Javier Baez's 'big swing' will lead to opposite field hitting success By Mark Gonzales The force of Javier Baez’s first two swings in the sixth inning Saturday nearly spun him into a hole in the batter’s box. But Baez’s next swing seemed more compact, simply because he made contact and drove the ball to right field for a two-run double that vaulted the Cubs to a 5-3 win over the Marlins.

“He can keep the big swing,” manager Joe Maddon said. “That doesn’t bother me at all. It’s about what he’s trying to do with the big swing.” Maddon hopes the double will encourage Baez to be more willing to hit to the opposite field instead of trying to pull every pitch and missing, as he did on his first two swings against reliever Nick Wittgren. “I bet he’s got as much power to that (right field) side as he has on his pull side,” Maddon said. “I’d almost say has he learns to do this better, he’s going to hit more home runs to the right center field side because there’s more of that available to him from what the pitchers try to do to him. “That’s a maturation process. That doesn’t happen overnight, and you have to be patient.” Baez is 8-for-23 during a six-game hitting streak, and Maddon said Baez’s ceiling as a hitter remains high because of the potential to improve by hitting to all fields. “When you’re filling out the hypothetical scouting form, you can really project on the hitting because that’s the part that’s really going to turn him into a superstar,” Maddon said. Baez said the Marlins have been giving him a dose of inside fastballs and outside sliders. “I’ve been choosing either one,” Baez said. “This series has been paying off pretty (well).” Baez intimated the Cubs’ slow start forced the hitters into trying to do too much. “We tried to do anything to help the team, and not having a leadoff guy right now is kind of tough,” Baez said. “Everyone is here ready to lead off and get on base for the (other) hitters.” -- Chicago Tribune Ben Zobrist likely to remain out through Nationals series with wrist injury By Mark Gonzales Anthony Rizzo didn’t challenge manager Joe Maddon’s decision to rest him Saturday with the Cubs traveling next week to face the National League East-leading Nationals and Reds. Although Rizzo is expected to return to the leadoff spot Sunday, the wait could be longer for switch-hitter Ben Zobrist to return. Maddon didn’t seem optimistic that Zobrist, who was eligible to come off the 10-day disabled list Friday, would be ready to return for the four-game series against the Nationals starting Monday night. “From what I’m hearing, not right yet,” Maddon said of Zobrist, who has remained in Chicago to receive treatments on his left wrist that has bothered him for four weeks and has prevented him from playing since June 13. Maddon said no date has been targeted for Zobrist to start a minor-league rehab assignment, and that decision would be left up to Zobrist. As for Rizzo, Maddon thought it was wise to give his first baseman a break against Marlins left-hander Justin Nicolino with nine games left on this 11-game, three-city trip. “I didn’t fight it,” Rizzo said. “It’s a long year. You got to be smart with your days and knowing if you take a day off now, it can help in the future.” --

Chicago Sun-Times Why Jon Lester could be the game-changer for the Cubs’ season By Gordon Wittenmyer MIAMI — Nobody in the Cubs’ clubhouse is going to claim they have this figured out yet, especially a lineup loaded with young hitters. Even with a 5-3 victory over the Marlins on Saturday, the Cubs haven’t won so much as back-to-back road games since April. They fell behind early again — the 57th game of 74 in which they’ve trailed. And the hitting star of the day, Javy Baez, pinned the lineup’s struggles on Kyle Schwarber and Company’s inability to adequately replace departed leadoff man Dexter Fowler. But by the time Jon Lester got done retiring 18 of the final 20 batters he faced after a three-run homer in the first, it was clear something was different about this team than the “Embrace the Suck” ethic they lived for two months — but only wear on T-shirts lately. “It’s a test for everybody,” Lester said of the 2½-month run of adversity the World Series champs have faced since returning to their regular-season jobs in April. The slow start by the rotation. The failed leadoff experiment with Schwarber. Injuries plaguing big parts of the 2016 team: Kyle Hendricks, Ben Zobrist and Jason Heyward. And a lineup of big-swinging kid hitters that seems to get younger every week. “They’re going to figure it out. And we’re going to go,” Lester said. “This is obviously a results-driven industry. But the plans as far as on the mound and in the batter’s box have looked a lot smoother right now, a lot cleaner. “We’ve played solid baseball for a little while now. Hopefully, we can get those results going in the right way.” That was literally the right way for under-25 hitters Albert Almora Jr., Addison Russell and Baez when they delivered opposite-field hits for, respectively, a tying double in the fourth, a leadoff double in the sixth and a go-ahead, two-run double later in the sixth. “As we do that, we will hit better in situations,” manager Joe Maddon said. “That’s the key to being able to drive in runs, not on the pull side all the time. Baez said the approach is a key to him having a strong finish. But he said the big difference between this year and last year is who’s batting first. “Pretty much not having a leadoff guy right now is kind of tough,” he said. Baez said “everybody” is ready to pitch in and try to fill the void. But whether everybody — or anybody — can do it, that won’t tell the story of this season once it’s in the books. That story is going to be told by Lester, the man paid $155 million to help write it, and the rest of the rotation. “That’s as well as I’ve seen him pitch,” Maddon said. “I know he had a great run last year also. From a stuff perspective, a command perspective, it’s as good as he can pitch. “Jonny’s just got this thing going on. He knows where the ball’s going, and he gets the high number of velocity when he wants to.”

If Lester (5-4) can continue to follow a lackluster first two months with the kind of finish that made him the runner-up in Cy Young voting last year, it could be a game-changer for the Cubs in a National League Central race that might be won with fewer than 90 wins. Lester’s performance put the rotation’s ERA at 2.52 for the last 11 games (7-4 in that run). “I feel better now than I did in April and May, for sure,” Lester said. “Bigger bodies take a while. Some years you come out like gangbusters and you’re ready to go and your body feels fine. Other years it takes a while to get into that rhythm of pitching every five days again. This was one of those years.” -- Chicago Sun-Times Still the GLHOAT, Anthony Rizzo won’t be ‘Wally Pipped’ after day off By Gordon Wittenmyer MIAMI — And on the 11th day, the Greatest Leadoff Hitter of All-Time rested. Despite coming off a shutout loss Friday night during a roller-coaster stretch for his battered lineup, Cubs manager Joe Maddon stayed committed to the scheduled day off for Anthony Rizzo, the Cubs’ self-proclaimed GLHOAT. “I’ve been a part of way too many teams that have been exhausted in September,” Maddon said. “I don’t want our team ever to be exhausted in September.” The only game Rizzo missed this season before Saturday was May 10 in Colorado, the day after playing both games of a doubleheader. “I didn’t fight it. It’s a long year,” Rizzo said. “You’ve got to be smart with days and knowing that you take a day off now, it’ll help in the future.” But what about all that newfound value the Cubs have found in Rizzo — who played the role of leadoff man for the first time in the last 10 games — and all that renewed vigor Rizzo found? He said he hoped the leadoff man Saturday, Jon Jay, would go 5-for-5 with five homers. Then he joked about getting “Wally Pipped out of that spot.” No chance. “He’s been going after it pretty hard being the leadoff hitter,” Maddon said. “He’s done a wonderful job, obviously. But you don’t want to beat him up.” In other words, Rizzo will be back in the leadoff spot Sunday. “Absolutely,” Maddon said. Since making his career debut at the top of the lineup June 13 in New York, Rizzo is hitting .342 with six walks, four home runs, a .763 slugging percentage and 1.185 OPS. Leading off the game, he’s 6-for-9 with three homers and a walk, giving him a .700 on-base percentage. “It’s pretty decent, I guess,” Rizzo said. The Cubs are 6-4 and have averaged 5.8 runs a game with him hitting there. In fact, Maddon likes the lineup so much that he might stay with it even when Ben Zobrist, the next-best leadoff option, returns from his wrist injury.

“We’ll see how it’s all still playing out,” Maddon said. “If you could just move Zo down to 3 or 4, that’s not a bad thing, either.” Maddon excited the Marlins Park crowd when he used Rizzo, a South Florida native, to pinch-hit for the pitcher with one out and nobody on in the ninth. The move drew a huge and sudden ovation. “I didn’t even realize we were doing that for them,” he said. “I had no idea. I was looking around like, ‘Somebody walk in the door? Was it A-Rod and J-Lo?’ No, it was Anthony. That was pretty cool.” NOTES: With Ben Zobrist (wrist) still unsure about a date for a brief rehab assignment, the Cubs have all but ruled out a return from the disabled list for a four-game series in Washington this week. • Kyle Hendricks is expected to test the injured finger on his pitching hand by playing catch Sunday for the first time since suffering a setback June 13. He has been on the DL since June 5 because of tendinitis in the back of the middle finger. • Kyle Schwarber is to report to Class AAA Iowa on Monday, when the team returns from a road trip, team officials say. • Left-hander Brett Anderson (back strain) was to join Class AA Tennessee on Sunday to start a rehab assignment. • The Cubs’ 2-0 loss Friday marked the sixth time they have been shut out this season, matching last year’s season total in 73 games. -- Daily Herald A journeyman's tale with a Chicago Cubs connection By Bruce Miles The motor coach inched its way through Tokyo traffic on a seemingly endless ride from Narita airport to the middle of the city. While a few exhausted members of the Chicago Cubs either made jokes or grumbled about the crawl, one journeyman catcher didn't want the ride to end, even though he had spent countless hours on buses. Seated alongside his wife, Yvonne, catcher Alan Zinter took it all in. Zinter was one of the last cuts of the spring in 2000, but because he had played part of the previous season in Japan, the Cubs brought him along to help out with the pitchers in the bullpen for their season-opening trip to Tokyo. It was a familiar rite of spring for Zinter, then 31. He'd go to big-league camp only to be sent to the minor leagues. This was the third straight spring he had gotten the bad news from the Cubs. Zinter never quit. He finally made it to the major leagues in 2002 with the Houston Astros, hitting a home run for his first big-league hit, in the 4,706th at-bat of his pro career. Today, he is in his second year as the hitting coach of the San Diego Padres. During the Padres visit to Wrigley Field this past week, Zinter talked of perseverance. "I love the game, obviously," he said. "When you're in it, each year is going to be 'the year.' I felt like I was still good enough. I didn't ever want to quit. That never crossed my mind. Obviously, I was frustrated. "But you use that as fuel to try to figure it out. Being able to make it at age 34 was tip of the iceberg that I was able to persevere and get there. Then I wanted to stay there and find a niche.

"Being able to play for 19 seasons was an accomplishment for me. I wanted to play until I was 40. But I think looking back at all that, it's prepared me for what I do now. I absolutely love what I do. All those tough times and frustration, it was baseball. "Life's not fair. Baseball's not fair, but it was very good to me, and I'm able to use all those experiences, all those tough times. I'm a little bit more sensitive to where hitters are. It prepared me for what I do now. It helps me with hitters today." Zinter was a first-round draft pick of the New York Mets in 1989. He played in such places as Williamsport, Birmingham, Toledo, Pawtucket and Tacoma in four different organizations before the Cubs signed him in late 1997. He batted .310 for Class AAA Iowa in 1998, but "the call" never came. The Cubs sold him to the Seibu Lions in early 1999, and he wound up loving Japan, with the fans adoringly calling him "Zhintah," as he recalled. He came agonizingly close in 2000, but he was cut late. Still, he has nothing but good things to say about the Cubs and then-managers Jim Riggleman and Don Baylor. "I just feel that at that time I was really primed and ready for the big leagues," he said. "I was so close and had really good camps. I remember Riggleman telling me this and that. Being the last guy cut with Don Baylor, and then they bring me to Japan. I had a great time with the Cubs. "It was a time in my life where I had prepared myself and finally was able to say, 'Yeah, I can play in the big leagues. I know I can do this.' So I have fond memories of the Cubs." The call to the big leagues came in 2002, when Zinter was playing for the Astros' Class AAA New Orleans affiliate. "It was on Father's Day in Colorado Springs," he said. "It happened in the dugout during a double switch. Our trainer got a call. The manager was like, 'Can I tell him?' He walked over to me in the corner, and I was like, 'What?' That was kind of a weird moment during the game, but it was really awesome." His first hit and first home run came on July 1, 2002, as a pinch hitter off the Reds' Scott Williamson at Cinergy Field in Cincinnati. "It's obviously a great moment in my life," he said. "When I hit it, in my sixth at-bat in the big leagues, it was a no-doubter to the pavilion in right-center field in Cincinnati. I just remember going, 'Oh, my God, I just did this. There's no way.' It was kind of like floating around the bases." Zinter got into 39 games with the Astros that year, hitting 2 homers. He didn't surface in the big leagues again until 2004, when he played 28 games with the Arizona Diamondbacks, hitting 1 homer. Zinter played two more years in the minors after the '04 season and finished with Somerset in independent ball in 2007. He logged 5,544 minor-league at-bats and 299 more with Somerset before calling it a career. He began coaching in 2008 in the Diamondbacks organization before working in the Cleveland and Houston systems. He was an assistant hitting coach for the Astros in 2015 and moved into his current role last year. "In the course of 14 years at the Triple-A level, I found myself always helping, reaching out to the younger Triple-A prospects," he said. "I remember Marty DeMerritt, who was our pitching coach (at Iowa), tell me I was going to make a good coach one day. I took offense at that, like, 'What are you talking about?' He said, 'No, no, when you're done.' I couldn't see that far down the line. "But I had always enjoyed helping even the player who was in my position. I just couldn't see anybody struggle. I always helped guys out. My wife used to get mad at me for, 'Why are you always helping all the players? You've

got to take care of yourself.' I think it's in me to want to help, and I'm continuing learning from my players, learning from other people." So if quitting never crossed Zinter's mind, what kept him going, from minor-league outposts in the United States to the other side of the world? "Just the belief in myself that I could make it, that someday I'm going to be a big-leaguer," he said. "That's something I had when I was little, and nothing was going to stop me. "It didn't work out on my timetable, but that's still not going to stop me. If I'm able to do it, and I felt I was getting better each year, I was going to continue to go until I felt like I wasn't getting any better and I didn't have an opportunity." And now he's enjoying life as a big-league coach. "It's the best gig in the world," he said. -- Daily Herald Ostrowski: Chicago Cubs' rotation starting to deliver By Joe Ostrowski This Chicago Cubs season has been a three-month waiting game for fans. Waiting for the offense to consistently score runs instead of this volatile production. Waiting for health. Kyle Hendricks, Jason Heyward and Ben Zobrist are on the disabled list. Brett Anderson has been on the DL since early May, and he begins a minor-league rehab assignment Sunday. Waiting for Kyle Schwarber to show up. He was demoted Thursday and will be playing for the Triple-A Iowa Cubs on Monday. Waiting for an extended run of victories that would lead to taking over first place in the division and not looking back. Maybe, just maybe, the wait for consistency from the starting rotation is over. In the last 11 games, the starting staff has a 2.52 ERA with 6 quality starts in their last seven outings. This should be pretty eye-opening. They're pitching their best as a group when two-fifths of the opening-day rotation hasn't been available for three weeks. Another surprise might be that the Cubs' rotation is performing at a slightly above average clip. Their 4.40 ERA coming into the weekend is better than the 4.53 major-league average. Jon Lester is the only regular starter with a sub-4 ERA. A pessimist might bring up the quality of competition during this recent pitching surge, but it's completely fair. Two of the last three Cubs opponents, San Diego and Pittsburgh, are bottom five in runs per game. Miami is 19th at 4.64 runs a contest. The pitching will put this team in a favorable position if it can keep this up a little longer. The all-star break is in two weeks, and the trade deadline is five weeks away. Reinforcements are coming. The team won't give a timetable on Hendricks, but they aren't letting him throw until he's 100-percent, which will be any day now. It isn't classified information that the front office will be trading for a starting pitcher.

Tough decisions are about to crop up regarding the rotation. When Hendricks returns, will Mike Montgomery go back to the bullpen or continue to start every fifth day? Eddie Butler would leave the starting staff if Montgomery stays. Will Anderson start another game for the 2017 Cubs once his rehab stint ends? Who exits the rotation, assuming team president Theo Epstein makes a move for another pitcher? The Cubs' starting staff's 2.96 ERA was the best in baseball a year ago. So if you want to say pitching wins championships, go ahead. -- Cubs.com Out to build on 1st W, Montgomery faces Fish By Glenn Sattell Edinson Volquez looks to continue his mastery over the Cubs as he takes the mound for Miami in the finale of a four-game series at Marlins Park on Sunday. The right-hander is 7-0 lifetime against the Cubs with a 3.06 ERA over 12 games, including 11 starts. It's his first outing against Chicago in a Marlins uniform, and his first against the Cubs since 2015, when he threw 5 2/3 innings, striking out nine while allowing six hits and three runs in a no-decision. His last decision against the Cubs was back on Sept. 14, 2014, with Pittsburgh, when he went seven innings and gave up just one earned run in a 12-7 victory. -- Cubs.com Cubs rally in Miami on Lester's milestone day By Joe Frisaro and Glenn Sattell MIAMI -- Check the Marlins off the list for Jon Lester. The veteran left-hander, who hadn't faced them much in his career, was winless against Miami until Saturday afternoon. Lester overcame a sluggish three-run first, regrouped and was dominant for the rest of his seven innings in the Cubs' 5-3 win at Marlins Park. In four previous career starts, Lester was 0-2 with a 4.91 ERA in 22 innings against the Marlins. The 33-year-old has now beaten 29 of the 30 big league clubs. The lone team he hasn't beaten are the Red Sox, the club he broke in with and has never faced. "When you give up three in the first, you really have to just lock it down," said Lester, who gave up J.T. Realmuto's homer in the first inning and then faced one batter over the minimum. "You have to try to figure out a way to pitch innings. You have to take that mindset that it's back to zero and not keep looking at the scoreboard." Javier Baez hit an RBI single in the fourth, and Albert Almora Jr. followed with a game-tying RBI double. Baez's two-run double off Nick Wittgren gave Chicago the lead for good in the sixth inning. Chicago has won two of the first three in the series, with the finale set for Sunday. "Our guys battled back, and that was huge. Defense and infield played really, really well," Lester said. Ian Happ's two-out RBI single in the first inning off Justin Nicolino gave the Cubs the early lead, but Realmuto put the Marlins in front with his two-out, three-run homer in the bottom half.

"Obviously, the first inning for us, we give up a run," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. "Nico kind of gets out of it in the first, then we get the three. You feel good, like you've got a chance to do something with him, then he pretty much handcuffed us the rest of the day." Realmuto's homer, his seventh of the year, traveled a projected 411 feet with a 102-mph exit velocity, according to Statcast™. After yielding the home run, Lester retired the next 13 he faced. "After that first inning, we were quiet with the bats," said Realmuto, who is having an All-Star-caliber first half. "[Lester] did a great job of keeping us off-balance. We were swinging at his pitches. We weren't getting in good counts. As an offense, once we jumped out early like that, we've got to build on runs. It's unacceptable to score three in the first and not sniff another one the rest of the game." MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Two-base barrage: Set down in order by Wittgren in the fifth, the Cubs struck quickly in the sixth, using a pair of doubles to grab a two-run lead. Addison Russell doubled to open the inning and Happ singled on a ball that Russell wasn't sure would be caught, so he advanced just to third, with Happ taking second on the throw. The crucial showdown was Wittgren against Baez. With the count 2-2, Baez ripped a 92.6-mph fastball to the wall in right for the go-ahead two-run double. Caught in a Flash: A momentum-shifting play came with one out in the bottom of the sixth and Dee Gordon at second. After singling and stealing second, Gordon attempted to swipe third with the left-handed-hitting Christian Yelich at the plate. Cubs catcher Willson Contreras made a strong throw and Baez applied the tag for the second out. On the close play, Miami challenged, but after a review of 49 seconds, the call was confirmed. Yelich struck out to end the threat. Prior to the caught stealing, Gordon didn't advance to third on Giancarlo Stanton's groundout to short, on a ball that was toward the middle. "It's obviously one you don't like to give up," Mattingly said of the caught stealing. "You'd like him to be safe, if he goes on that one, where he's sure. I think the real play is not advancing on the Giancarlo ball up the middle." QUOTABLE "Good hitting team right there, you've got to kind of pitch backwards. I thought we made a good pitches they put good swings on. That's baseball. It's just a tough one." – Nicolino "That's a good lineup. We've pitched well three games against these guys. I like their lineup a lot, not a little bit. So I think our pitchers have done a great job. The bullpen again was really good." -- Cubs manager Joe Maddon, whose team has held the Marlins to seven hits over the last two games SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS Lester struck out four in his seven innings, giving him 501 as a Cub. WHAT'S NEXT Cubs: The Cubs send Mike Montgomery to the mound in Sunday's series finale with the Marlins at 12:10 p.m. CT. The left-hander is coming off his first win of the season, a six-inning three-hit scoreless outing against the Padres, striking out four while walking two. Marlins: Wrapping up the three-game set with the Cubs on Sunday at 1:10 p.m. ET, Edinson Volquez (3-8, 4.19) goes for Miami. The right-hander is 7-0 with a 3.06 ERA lifetime against the Cubs. --

Cubs.com Young Baez's hitting maturation on display By Glenn Sattell MIAMI -- Going with the pitch seems like the most basic of strategies, but for a young player still learning his craft at the highest level, it's not as easy as it appears. But Javier Baez continues to work that key approach, and it paid off Saturday. The infielder sparked an 11-hit Cubs attack with a pair of run-scoring hits in a 5-3 win over Miami at Marlins Park. Baez upped his hitting streak to six games (10-for-23) with his 15th multi-hit game of the year. He singled in a run during a two-run fourth inning that erased a 3-1 deficit, then broke a 3-3 tie with a two-run double to the opposite field in the sixth, slapping a line drive over the head of Marlins right fielder Giancarlo Stanton. And that opposite-field power is what had manager Joe Maddon excited about the at-bat and the win. "The RBIs to the opposite field, that was awesome to see," Maddon said. "Just trying to get these guys to understand that there's more than one side to a baseball field. As we do that, we'll hit better in situations. That's the key to being able to drive in runs. I thought we did a nice job." Baez drove in three runs for the third time this season, and he drove in the game-winning run for the second time. "He can keep the big swing, that doesn't bother me at all," Maddon said. "It's about what he's trying to do with the big swing. He's got as much power [the opposite] side as he's got on his pull side. "As he learns to do this better, he's going to hit more home runs to the right-center-field side, because there's more of that available to him from what the pitchers try to do to him. That's a maturation process. That doesn't happen overnight. And you have to be patient." Baez said he continues to work on just that, but as Maddon pointed out, it's a process. "Trying to get my timing down, seeing the ball at the same time," Baez said. "I've been making my adjustments. My work and routine have been helping me. I've been seeing the ball really good." He added that simply not trying too hard is helping in his development as a hitter. "I think my power is to right-center; I know it," Baez said. "Sometimes I get out of my plan and just try to pull the ball. Once I get in that lane, I'll hopefully stay there." -- Cubs.com Maddon rests Rizzo, talks keeping Cubs fresh By Glenn Sattell MIAMI -- How do you justify and when do you know it's the right time to give one of the hottest hitters in baseball the day off? That's a decision Cubs manager Joe Maddon said was not a difficult one at all when he made out Saturday's lineup card sans Anthony Rizzo. The hot-hitting leadoff man didn't start against the Marlins, but he did pinch-hit in the ninth inning of the 5-3 win, lining out before playing first base in the bottom half. Rizzo has now played in 73 of Chicago's first 74 games. "It had to be either today or tomorrow," Maddon said. "And they have the righty [Edinson Volquez] tomorrow. So with the lefty [Justin Nicolino] today, get him off his feet. We have a week's worth of games coming up.

"He's been going after it pretty hard being the leadoff hitter. I think he's done a wonderful job, obviously. So, don't want to beat him up. Don't want to beat up our bullpen, don't want to beat up our players right now. We still have a long way to go. And if you ride them too hard, it's the point of diminishing returns will set in. So all factors considered, I thought it was the right thing to do today." Maddon said that Rizzo would be back atop the Cubs' lineup on Sunday when the Cubs complete the four-game series at Marlins Park. It's a spot that Rizzo has taken to in the last couple of weeks. But Saturday offered a prime opportunity for him to take a break. "I've been a part of way too many teams that have been exhausted in September," Maddon said. "I don't want our team ever to be exhausted in September. It was a culmination of guys not getting days off, batting practice every day for an hour, hitting day games after night games. For all those reasons, I saw teams exhausted in September. "I think if we do this properly ... we've still got our floaties on, we're very handy right now within our division. To really run guys into the ground right now for me would absolutely be the wrong thing to do." Besides, Rizzo said that physically he was probably ready for a day off. "I didn't fight it," Rizzo said. "It's a long year. You've got to be smart with your days. You take a day off now; it'll help in the future. Joe spoke to us about trying to get us days here and there. We're going to D.C. and then we play our division." Rizzo has excelled from the leadoff spot and has been swinging a hot bat since early May. He has reached base in 16 of his last 17 games, and has posted a .435 on-base percentage over his last 42 games since May 7 (third best in the National League over that span). "That's pretty decent, I guess," Rizzo said. "As long as we win, it doesn't matter where I hit." --