Welcome back to the Cubs Beat newsletter. Jordan Bastian has covered baseball for MLB.com since 2005, including the Cubs since the 2019 season. |
CHICAGO -- Kyle Tucker would not budge. With the bases loaded and two outs against Padres righty Nick Pivetta on Saturday, the Cubs star did not get what he wanted in their second-inning battle, watched five pitches go by and was perfectly fine with dropping his bat and taking his walk. Tucker has embraced that mentality as he has gained experience and developed into one of baseball’s elite hitters. “Earlier in my career, I could hit pitches off the plate,” Tucker said. “That doesn’t necessarily mean I should swing at them or want to do that. I think if you just have good plate discipline and are able to take those pitches that are close or just off or whatever, and get into better counts, you’ll get better pitches to hit.”
Cubs hitting coach Dustin Kelly referred to Tucker as the “poster child” for that type of high-level plate discipline, but it has also been a lineup-wide priority for the North Siders out of the gates this season. Kelly and Chicago’s hitting group has emphasized the idea of focusing on aggressiveness in the zone and avoiding the temptation to chase.
|
Entering Wednesday’s action, that collective mindset had the Cubs sitting with a Major League-high 13.0% walk rate. Looking further under the hood, Chicago’s offense had swung at just 29.7% of pitches outside the strike zone, ranking fifth best in MLB. On the other side, the Cubs’ 69.2% rate of swings on in-zone pitches was 11th best in baseball. “That's kind of the identity that we hope to create to kind of go along with the baserunning,” Kelly said. “[Our message] was, 'Hey, we're going to be really aggressive in the zone and be super stubborn out of the zone.' That's kind of how I phrased it to them.” So far, the Cubs’ swinging-strike rate is down a bit from last season (10.4% in ‘25 vs. 11.0% in ‘24) and Chicago’s 24.9% rate of called-and-swinging strikes combined this year was the lowest mark in MLB, entering Wednesday. And while the swings on pitches outside the zone have dropped (29.7% in ‘25 vs. 31.1% in ‘24), the contact on such pitches has climbed (65.7% in ‘25 vs. 64.0% in ‘24). |
The Cubs recently had a string of four consecutive games with at least seven walks, which team historian Ed Hartig noted represented the longest such streak for the franchise since the mound was established at 60 feet, six inches from home plate in 1893. “I think it’s a sign of just battling through at-bats as much as anything,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said of his team’s early propensity for patience. “I don’t know if we’re going to be a top-two team in walks, as we are right now, but I do think it’s the patience to make a pitcher work and to bring him to what we want to hit, is something we have the ability to do." |
MLB MORNING LINEUP PODCAST |
|
|
Tucker has a chance to threaten Billy Williams’ 1970 team record for homers in a season by a left-handed batter (42). In fact, Williams is the only lefty-swinging hitter in Cubs history with 40 or more homers in one year. Which Cubs batter has come closest to joining that list? A) Cody Bellinger B) Anthony Rizzo C) Carlos Peña D) Kyle Schwarber |
|
|
In the span of a few minutes on Monday night, veteran utility man Jon Berti displayed precisely why the Cubs wanted him as part of the bench equation for this season. Berti had not appeared in a game for six days when Counsell gave him the start at second to offer Nico Hoerner a day off. Berti was hit by a pitch to lead off the third inning and then generated a run on a cold night for Chicago. He stole second and third base, and then scored on an Ian Happ grounder to first base. “There’s a narrative of the veteran bench player that sometimes gets overdone,” Counsell said. “But [Monday] night is an example of why that story exists. He hadn’t played in a week and he went out there and, in his first at-bat, created a run on his own. Just through, to me, really, instincts, experience, he created a run. That’s why you get guys like that, right? That’s what you hope from those guys that maybe don’t play a lot with the nature of our regular lineup.” In his first six games for the Cubs this season, the 35-year-old Berti has collected four hits and stolen five bases between his 18 plate appearances. Signed to a one-year deal worth $2 million over the winter, he has offered protection all over the infield defensively and impact speed off the bench. “Jon’s been able to make a big contribution every day that he’s played,” Counsell said. “He accepts what his job is and I think it makes him prepared when he’s called on to do his job well. And he’s done his job exceptionally well.” |
|
|
“I remember watching the really good Cubs teams and playing against the really good Cubs teams in ‘16, ‘17, ‘18. They found a way to win the shootouts and the close one-run games. And I think we’re trying to get back to that. We can go out there and, when the wind’s blowing out, we can outslug or slug with anyone. But when it’s blowing in, we know we have great defense. So, on the pitching side: throw strikes, mix and let our defense work. And on the offensive side: just run the bases really hard, take the extra 90 feet, hustle on everything, move runners and get them in.” -- Cubs starter Jameson Taillon |
D) Schwarber
Schwarber launched 38 home runs in 2019, marking the second most in a single season for a left-handed Cubs batter. Williams holds the next two spots with 37 in 1972 and 34 in 1965. Williams (33 in 1964) and Bill Nicholson (33 in 1944) are tied for fifth on this list.
|
FORWARDED FROM A FRIEND? SUBSCRIBE NOW |
To subscribe to Cubs Beat, visit this page and mark "Cubs Beat" from our newsletter list. Make sure you're following the Cubs or that they're checked as your favorite team. |
|
|
|
