After his first full season on the North Side, Addison Russell is primed to step into the spotlight and become the next Cubs superstar.
It’s been four months since the Chicago Cubs broke a 108-year-old drought by winning the World Series with a dramatic Game 7, 8-7 victory, over the Cleveland Indians. Despite having a roster already loaded with superstars, Addison Russell has become an integral part to a Cubs team hoping to defend their championship status in 2017.
Let’s take a look at Addison Russell’s path to the Cubs, and how his early success points to even bigger things in the near future.
The Early Years
Addison Russell, from Pace, Florida, played his high school ball for Pace High School. He played on the Varsity team from 2010 to 2012. In 2010, he led his team to a state championship and they were runners up in 2012. Russell’s play didn’t go unnoticed, in 2010 he played in the Under Armour All-America Baseball Game. In 2011, he was a Louisville Slugger First Team All-American.
During his final season in high school, Russell hit for a .358 batting average and recorded a .532 on-base percentage, while hitting eight home runs. Prior to the end of his high school career, Russell signed his national letter of intent to play college baseball for the Auburn Tigers.
Athletics
Despite his intent to play baseball for the Auburn Tigers, Russell was drafted 11th overall in the 2012 MLB Draft by the Oakland Athletics. He signed a $2.625 million dollar contract and began his professional career with the Arizona League Athletics.
Russell would progress through the Athletics system at a rapid pace. Including the Arizona League Athletics, he had stints with the Vermont Lake Monsters and the Burlington Bees. His first year in the minors was quite impressive. Between the three teams, his first season of hitting consisted of .369/.432/.594 with seven home runs and 45 RBI’s.
After only 55 games in the minors, Russell was named the Athletics’ best prospect according to Baseball America. He was named the CAL rookie and shortstop of the year and was named to the CAL All-Star team.
Becoming A Cub
July 4th, 2014 will be a day forever remembered in Cubs history as the day Theo Epstein pulled off arguably the greatest trade in franchise history. The Cubs were still in full-on rebuild mode, trading what ever assets they had to gain prospects and draft picks for the future. In this particular trade, the Cubs sent starting pitchers Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel to the Athletics in exchange for Addison Russell, outfielder Billy McKinnney and pitcher Dan Straily.
Russell’s time in the Cubs minor league system was short, but remained productive. During his time with the Tennessee Smokies he was hitting .294/.332/.536 with 12 home runs and 36 RBI’s.
Arriving At The Show
On April 21, 2015 Addison Russell made his long anticipated debut for the Chicago Cubs and never looked back. On the year, he batted .242/.307/.389 with 13 home runs and 54 RBI’s in 142 games.
His 2016 season was the first wire-to-wire season as a Cub and there is plenty to be excited about. At just 22-years-old, Russell was hitting .238/.321/.738 with 21 home runs and 95 RBI’s. His strikeout rate was down from 28.5% in 2015 to 22.6% in 2016. He became the youngest player to start an All-Star game in franchise history.
For the 103-win Cubs, Russell was responsible for an impressive 11 game-winning RBI’s. In the World Series, Russell was responsible for nine RBI’s, which already puts him at 7th all time. To top it all off he became a World Series Champion.
What’s Next
It’s hard to fathom that Addison Russell has accomplished so much at such a young age. What’s even scarier is that he hasn’t even begun to scratch his prime, and he is already one of the top young shortstops in the game.
His defense is already Gold Glove caliber. According to FanGraphs, in 2016 he was responsible for 19 defensive runs saved tying him with Gold Glover Brandon Crawford of the San Francisco Giants.
On the offensive side of the ball, he has seen increases from 2015 to 2016 in both hard contact from 27.1% to 29.3% and pull power from 42.6% to 44.2%. With a team-leading five home runs in spring training, it’s safe to say Addison Russell still has plenty of offensive firepower to unleash.
As Cubs fans, we can only sit back and enjoy as a 23-year-old blossoms into one of the best shortstops the franchise has ever seen.