Mark Grace is as solid as they come. Sammy Sosa, Shawon Dunston and Brian McRae have their ups and downs. But, all things considered, they’re steady.
The keys to the Cubs’ offense this year are two newcomers: Luis Gonzalez and Todd Zeile.
“When those two hit, we’re a real good team,” said manager Jim Riggleman. “When they’re not hitting, we’re not nearly as good. They make a big difference.”
That difference has been apparent in the last week.
Going into Friday night’s rain-delayed game against the Cardinals, the Cubs had won eight of their last 10, and two of three in August.
Not surprisingly, Gonzalez and Zeile have come alive during that stretch.
Gonzalez went 5 for 9 with two doubles, a triple, a homer and five runs batted in over the first three games of August. He kept the surge going with a double to right in his first at-bat when play finally began after a 65-minute rain delay Friday night.
Compare that with his numbers for July, when he hit a lowly .229 (16 for 70) and the Cubs had a mediocre 14-13 record.
Zeile was even worse in July, batting .214 (22 for 103). But in his last six games, he has gone 8 for 22 with a double, two homers and seven RBIs. The homers came in back-to-back games July 29-30.
“Shhhh. Don’t tell anybody,” Zeile said when asked about his long-awaited resurgence. “I was hoping nobody would bring it up.”
Riggleman didn’t bring it up, but he certainly noticed.
“I think both of those guys were trying to do too much for a while,” he said. “There’s always a tendency when you’re traded to try to go out and prove something–prove it was a good trade. And I think both those guys fell into a little bit of that. But I think they’re both getting over it.”
It was obvious when the trade was made that Gonzalez, a proven veteran, would get the bulk of playing time in left over rookie Ozzie Timmons. But Riggleman made a point of saying he didn’t intend for Timmons “to die on the vine.”
For much of July, Riggleman used a quasi-platoon system, sitting Gonzalez most of the time–but not always–against left-handed pitching. Lately, Riggleman has decided to let Gonzalez play against lefties.
“He’s always hit lefties as well as he’s hit righties,” said Riggleman. “Look at his numbers. He’s .268 against righties and .267 against lefties. His power numbers are all the same. There’s no difference right or left.”
Gonzalez, who was the full-time left-fielder for the Houston Astros before the trade, says seeing left-handed pitching helps him because “it makes me stay in there longer against righties.”
Meanwhile, with Gonzalez thriving, Riggleman is trying to find ways to keep Timmons active. One way was the way he did it Friday night, when he started Timmons in right field to give Sosa a rest.
Sosa had played in 126 consecutive games, the second-longest streak in the National League behind Barry Bonds, but he had been struggling lately. He is 1 for 12 in his last three games and 7 for 47 in his last 13 starts.
“I had been debating for a couple days whether it was time to give Sammy a day off when a couple of my coaches came up to me and said they thought he needed a rest,” said Riggleman. “That convinced me they were seeing the same thing I was.”
Timmons can’t count on starting many games in right, but Riggleman says he can continue to juggle things so everybody gets enough playing time–especially Gonzalez.
