He used to text his players the night before the game what the line up would be.
This year, he says he will change this routine. He will now text line ups for the entire series. But this does not mean the Cubs are changing to a set, regular line up.
Yahoo Sports writes that that is not going to happen. Maddon doesn't want a stable lineup with 7-8 regulars playing every day. Theo Epstein doesn't want it. Jed Hoyer doesn't want it. The "Geek Squad" doesn't recommend it. And the roster doesn't allow for it. In theory.
If the Cubs have a 3-game set beginning on a Monday night in boring ole
St. Louis, for example, Maddon or new bench coach Mark Loretta plan to text players on that Sunday night to let them know what
the projected lineups would be for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
The
whole "set lineup" narrative got a lot of traction last year as an
ill-informed potential reason for why the Cubs lineup may have struggled
or why some young players took a step back. It picked up steam the day
after the Cubs were stunned in that National League Wild-Card game. Some players have quietly complained to management that they do not like the day to day uncertainty of the line up.
"Part
of it is developmental, part of it is match up. Some of it's trying to
put you in a situation to make you look better. It takes time for young
players to understand it. I think veterans get that a little bit better.
Even though a veteran might want to play more often, he understands his
role may be in this and it might be the best thing for him. It just
takes time," Maddon said.
Part of the problem is that Maddon likes a roster with players playing multiple positions. This gives him more flexibility to find better hitter match ups. But playing multiple players out of their natural position does hurt their defensive metrics. Last season the Cubs took a large set back in the team's overall defense.
Also, the Cubs still do not have a traditional lead off hitter who can get on base for the run producers in the second, third and clean up spots. Stat gurus now quibble with the notion of the old school lead off hitter being important in line up construction, but baserunners are still key in even a home run centric era.
Players are creatures of habit. If they know they are going to bat second every time they play in the field, it is one less thing to worry about. But Maddon has his players batting anywhere from lead off to 9th.
The Cubs do have fielders that deserve a regular, everyday spot in a set line up: Rizzo, Bryant, Contreras, Baez and possibly Zobrist (if Russell does not make the club). The rest of the line up can be in a regular platoon situation.
For example:
1. ______________
2. Bryant 3B
3. Rizzo 1B
4. Baez SS/2B
5. Contreras C
6. ______________
7. ______________
8. ______________
If Russell stays, he is a shortstop batting near #8, possibly sharing time with Bote.
Happ and Almora could platoon in CF.
Heyward, depending on his start, would be in RF platooning with Zobrist or even Bryant.
Schwarber has LF to lose, but he could platoon with Happ and Zobrist as well.
But you can set a "regular" portion of the line up (two through five) quite easily, but Maddon is stubborn in his ways.
7. ______________
8. ______________
If Russell stays, he is a shortstop batting near #8, possibly sharing time with Bote.
Happ and Almora could platoon in CF.
Heyward, depending on his start, would be in RF platooning with Zobrist or even Bryant.
Schwarber has LF to lose, but he could platoon with Happ and Zobrist as well.
But you can set a "regular" portion of the line up (two through five) quite easily, but Maddon is stubborn in his ways.
