May 22nd, 2024
Tim Stebbins
@tim_stebbinsCHICAGO -- A full-scale "W" flag rested on the chair at Nico ho*rner’s locker Tuesday night. As the Cubs' second baseman described, it’s part of a new team tradition reliever Hector Neris started recently. A flag is awarded to a Player of the Game and Pitcher of the Game after each win.
Tuesday, it was ho*rner’s turn for the honor.
Making his return after missing the previous six games with a left hamstring issue, ho*rner delivered a walk-off infield single on a high chopper to first baseman Matt Olson in the Cubs’ 4-3 win over the Braves in 10 innings at Wrigley Field.
“Obviously I wanted to get a ball out of the infield there and score the run,” ho*rner said. “But get to two strikes and just want to put a ball in play first. Fortunate where it went, and Cubs win.”
ho*rner’s return coincided with Dansby Swanson, who was on the 10-day injured list with a right knee sprain and activated before the series opener. Prior to the game manager Craig Counsell cautioned the duo returning to the lineup alone should not be viewed as a one-stop solution for the club’s offensive woes.
But there’s also no denying their impact.
“We’re getting two players that are normally in our lineup back, and that should help,” Counsell said. “Is it the solution? Is it the answer? I don't think anybody would say that's the answer. But it's going to help.”
After an impressive April, the Cubs' offense has had a tougher go of it in May. Entering Tuesday, here’s where Chicago ranked in several key offensive categories this month.
AVG: .217 (29th)
OBP: .308 (tied 14th)
SLG: .363 (25th)
wRC+: 95 (17th)
“We’ve had a month where we’ve struggled, really,” team president Jed Hoyer said pregame Tuesday. “I think that April was a pretty good month for us offensively. I think May so far has been a struggle, especially with guys in scoring position, [which] has been a challenge. I think some of that is playing shorthanded at times, and some of that is guys that we count on have been struggling.”
Here is a look at those same numbers by the Cubs in May, in RISP situations.
AVG: .178 (last)
OBP: .285 (27th)
SLG: .259 (last)
OPS: .544 (29th)
wRC+: 61 (29th)
“I think these are the things that happen over a long season,” Hoyer added. “You have your ups and downs, and right now, or at least for the last few weeks, we've been certainly in a low point offensively. … But I do think this is what teams go through over the course of a season.
“Hopefully getting Dansby and Nico back, and we keep grinding, I think we'll get back to where we were in April, where we felt like we had really good at-bats and we had real depth.”
Swanson has had a bit of an up-and-down start this season, carrying a .209/.285/.341 slash line in 37 games into Tuesday. But he also played through the knee injury suffered in the series vs. the Astros in late April. He went 2-for-4 with a double Tuesday, scoring a run on a passed ball in the second inning.
ho*rner, who went 1-for-5, has been one of the Cubs’ steadiest bats in May. He entered the day with a .289/.418/.511 slash line in 12 games this month.
“I enjoy watching all of our guys go about their work,” ho*rner said of his perspective the past week. “It's not the results we wanted over the weekend with the Pirates series, but the outlook for our group is still as good as ever, I feel like.”
On the heels of the four-game series loss to Pittsburgh, that’s something Swanson echoed before the game.
Perhaps it’s easy to look at how the offense has fallen short recently. The Cubs have also faced some sturdy opposing starting pitchers of late. Over their last four series, that includes Atlanta’s Chris Sale and Reynaldo López, Pittsburgh’s Jared Jones, Paul Skenes and Mitch Keller, and San Diego’s Yu Darvish and Dylan Cease.
Of course, the offense has to deliver no matter who it faces. The lineup gaining two key faces back is a step in a positive direction.
“We've obviously battled through so much adversity, whether it's injuries, schedule, opponents, travel,” Swanson said. “Just all these different things, and I feel like we've handled it so gracefully.
“I really feel like we're poised to obviously go on a run here at some point. Getting everybody back healthy is a good start, and really starting to gel and move forward.”
