Three days into a season offers little information as far as projecting a full baseball season goes, and it’s easy to overreact and jump to enormous conclusions. But after one weekend of baseball, the Chicago Cubs got an intriguing appetizer from each of its two main off-season free-agent signings in starting pitcher Marcus Stroman and outfielder Seiya Suzuki.
Let’s recap their first series as Cubs.
Stroman Looks Strong
Marcus Stroman, who inked a three-year contract worth $71 million in early December, was brought in as another top-end starter to join Kyle Hendricks for the Cubs’ starting rotation. He was eased into the 2022 season in the series finale against the Milwaukee Brewers and fired an efficient five innings of one-run baseball. Stroman gave up only two hits while walking three and striking out three as well.
His lone blemish on the day was a home run allowed to Milwaukee’s shortstop, Willy Adames, on a full count in the third inning.
Stroman settled in after that and was pulled with the lead after throwing just 79 pitches.
Stroman was in line to begin his Cubs career 1-0, but unfortunately for Stroman and the Cubs, the lead was lost right away in the sixth inning after reliever Jesse Chavez struggled, giving away the Cubs’ 3-1 lead.
What’s Next for Stroman?
Stroman’s next start will come Friday night at Coors Field when the Cubs travel west to take on the Colorado Rockies. With its high elevation and thin air, Coors Field can present problems for pitchers, so Stroman will hope to induce ground balls early and often when he takes on the Rockies.
Against the Brewers on Sunday, Stroman had a ridiculous 77% ground ball rate, so he’ll be smart to try and duplicate that again. Groundball pitchers like Stroman will have a much better chance of success while pitching in Denver.
Seiya Says See-Ya
Cubs fans received an early thrill before they could even enjoy their first beer on Sunday afternoon as newly-acquired outfielder Seiya Suzuki took Freddy Peralta deep for a mammoth three-run blast to open the scoring in the first inning.
Suzuki’s shot was a no-doubter that reached the left-center seats after 412 feet and gave the Cubs a comfortable early lead.
Suzuki would later draw a base on balls, an early-season trend that manager David Ross hopes will continue.
Suzuki has already drawn four walks this season and holds a .538 on-base percentage after one series. He has also contributed six runs batted in in the early going.
Suzuki was lauded as a dangerous hitter from his playing days in Japan, but also a patient one with a keen eye for the strike zone. In just 13 plate appearances so far, he has already seen 57 pitches, good enough for a 4.38 Pit/PA (pitches per plate appearance).
What’s more, Suzuki currently leads baseball with a minuscule 3.1 O-Swing % (outside swing percentage). This statistic helps explain how players identify strikes and balls, where the lower your percentage, the fewer balls you chase out of the strike zone. This statistic is also sometimes called Chase Rate.
Comparing Suzuki’s tiny 3.1 O-Swing % to, say, former Cub Javier Baez, a noted free-swinger, helps put this stat in better context.
Though admittedly early, Baez sports a whopping 60% O-Swing %, second-highest in baseball. This suggests that Baez swings at a lot of pitches outside the strike zone, whereas Suzuki, so far, is laying off pitches outside the strike zone. This should yield plenty of walks and better overall at-bats for the 27-year-old rookie.
What’s next for Suzuki?
Just as Stroman is fearful of the pitching environment at Coors Field, Seiya Suzuki should find it just lovely.
Balls travel farther in Colorado, which may lead to more power on display for Suzuki.
The Rockies’ pitching staff doesn’t intimidate many around baseball, which should only increase the chances for Suzuki to have a strong offensive outburst.
It will also be worth keeping an eye on Suzuki’s place in the Cubs’ batting lineup to see if David Ross moves Suzuki near the top of the order.
Suzuki has batted in the No. 6 hole twice and the No. 5 hole once to date. Rafael Ortega has been exceptional as the Cubs’ lead-off man so far in 2022, as he has drawn four walks so far, including leading off each game with a walk in the Cubs’ opening series. Seeing as it was against All-Stars Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, and Freddy Peralta, that is no small feat.
Wherever Suzuki permanently lands in the lineup remains to be seen, but hopefully, his blend of patience and power will continue.
