The Cubs are counting on Corey Patterson to take off in his leadoff role this season after watching him have limited success in the top spot during the final two months of 2004.
Cutting down on Patterson’s 168 strikeouts is the primary goal of new hitting coach Gene Clines this spring. Improving Patterson’s bunting also is on the agenda.
Although no one wants to put too much pressure on Patterson, his importance is magnified with the exits of Sammy Sosa and Moises Alou. Clines and Patterson spent 10 days in Mesa before camp began, cementing a relationship that could blossom this spring.
“You’re going to see a different player,” Clines said. “When I came down here, the main purpose was to sit down and get a program together so when camp opens up it’s going to be a continuation. I like what I see. He’s happy with it, he’s more comfortable. His confidence level is probably as high as it ever has been.
“That’s a big part of the battle. Forget about what happened last year. We’re not even going to talk about that.”
After returning to the leadoff spot Aug. 1, Patterson hit .336 for the month, but dipped to .190 in September. He conceded he “ran out of gas” the final two weeks.
Patterson’s raw talent is obviously there, but he has a frustrating penchant for swinging at balls out of the zone.
“Definitely the strikeouts are going to decrease,” Clines said. “I predict it’s going to be a big swing because of all the things we’re doing now and the changes that he has made.
“He has realized what happened in the past. I told him, the last couple of years, you were going through growing pains. If you eliminate a lot of mistakes, good things will happen.”
Manager Dusty Baker hasn’t decided on a set lineup, although for the first time in Chicago he has the prerogative to use a speed game at the top of the order in Patterson and newly acquired Jerry Hairston Jr.
“It all depends on how much Hairston plays,” Baker said. “Or if Hairston is not playing batting Corey first and Todd [Walker] second, because Todd can do a lot in that second spot.”
Clines has worked with Patterson over the last two years, but now that he has replaced Gary Matthews as hitting coach, the center fielder’s future is officially in his hands.
Baker wants to revamp the Cubs offense, turning it from a home-run hitting machine to a more balanced attack. The Cubs led the National League in homers in 2004, but finished 11th in on-base percentage and only seventh in runs scored.
“We’re going to be more versatile; there’s going to be more hit-and-runs, more getting guys involved in the little things,” Clines said.
“We have to get guys over and get them in. We can’t rely on the home run. It’s really going to change the pace and tempo of the [offense]. We have to be sounder fundamentally. We can’t wait for guys to sit back and hit the ball out of the park.”
The Cubs led the majors in percentage of runs scored on homers last year, but the all-or-nothing offense proved a detriment when the offense shut down during the final week.
“We lost a lot of home runs [with the departure of Alou and Sosa], but the name of the game is runs,” Baker said. “The team we had before, we hit a lot of home runs, but we struck out quite a bit too. You like to have approximately three times as many runs as home runs. We have to pick up runs from third base with less than two outs, advance runners from second with no outs . . . “
