1 day Ago
PITTSBURGH – Catcher Carson Kelly was the fourth Cub to step up to the plate Tuesday against Pirates pitcher Andrew Heaney , the earliest a Cubs backstop has slotted in the batting order this season. Both Kelly and fellow catcher Miguel Amaya have had strong offensive starts to the season. But they’d remained in the bottom half of the order, often right behind Pete Crow-Armstrong , who over the last two and a half weeks has been getting on base at a .
396 clip. “Mainly, we decided to move Dansby [Swanson] in the order for now, and flip-flop him and Carson, essentially, is how I see it,” manager Craig Counsell said Tuesday. “.
.. Just acknowledging what Carson’s done to this point and how well he’s swung the bat.
” Kelly entered Tuesday with a ridiculously high on-base percentage of .517 through 58 plate appearances. He also led the team in OPS (1.
371) by a wide margin. Kelly provided the first runs of the game Tuesday, launching a two-run homer in the fourth inning. Swanson, who generally hits fifth in the order, has been in a cold stretch.
He entered Tuesday hitting just .157 this April. Swanson moved to eighth in the batting order on Tuesday.
“He’s on that far end of streakiness, in just who he is as a hitter,” Counsell said. “He’s in a little bit of one of the ruts right now. And then in the good stretches, he can carry a team for 10 or so days and be your best offensive player.
“That’s just where we’re at right now. He’ll get out of it. His defense has been phenomenal and exceptional.
Just try to get him in one of those good stretches.” Before Tuesday, sixth was the highest a catcher had hit in the Cubs batting order this season, a spot Amaya occupied earlier this month against the Rangers when second baseman Nico Hoerner got a day off, slightly shuffling the lineup. Left on left First baseman Michael Busch , a left-handed hitter, also started on Tuesday.
It was Busch’s first time this season in the starting lineup opposite a left-handed starting pitcher “With some of the history of Heaney, that’s what put Michael Buch in the line up a little bit,” Counsell said. Heaney has posted reverse splits in recent years, a trend that has continued this season. He went into Tuesday limiting right-handed batters to a .
405 OPS, while lefties had a .693 OPS against him. Busch usually hits fourth in the order against right-handed starters, with veteran right-handed hitter Justin Turner tapping in against lefties.
Busch hit fifth on Tuesday. Injury update Reliever Ryan Braiser (strained left groin) is just about through the bullpen phase of his throwing program. After his session Tuesday, as long as it went smoothly, he was set to graduate to throwing to hitters, Counsell said.
Reliever Tyson Miller (left hip impingement) was scheduled to make the fifth appearance of his rehab assignment with Triple-A Iowa on Tuesday. “We’re just kind of monitoring every outing and seeing where we’re at,” Counsell said..
