The hours before the Cubs opened a three-game series against the division-rival Pirates weren’t all gloom and rain for the team. A couple pregame updates presented a sunny outlook for the team’s outfield group.
Right fielder Seiya Suzuki was back in the lineup Tuesday, after a mystery ailment kept him sidelined for two days. Center fielder Cody Bellinger (bruised left knee) began his rehab assignment in Triple-A Iowa. And with Bellinger starting at first base, it appeared Mike Tauchman had played himself into a longer-term role with the big-league team.
“There’s a number of thoughts there,” manager David Ross said of Bellinger playing first base.
The first was health. Bellinger has run through a gambit of baseball activities, and Ross said the only thing that bothered Bellinger’s knee was full extension during all-out sprints. First base requires less of that motion. Bellinger has also played plenty of first base in his career, including 93 games in 2017 when he won Rookie of the Year and 36 games in his 2019 MVP season.
“Also Tauchman’s swinging the bat really well, and held down center field pretty well,” Ross said. “So just trying to find the best lineup whenever Belli gets back.”
Tauchman, with a team-leading .389 on-base percentage entering Tuesday, has been hitting leadoff for the Cubs against right-handed starters. And his diving catch in the right-center gap Saturday in San Francisco was one of the best of the season – up there with Bellinger’s extra-base hit-robbing grab against the wall that landed him on the injured list.
“Off the bat, I didn’t think I had a great shot at it,” Tauchman said. “But that’s why you go hard, just in case.”
Bellinger playing at least part time at first base would give the Cubs an avenue to hold onto Tauchman, who is out of minor-league options. Having both left-handed bats in the lineup could address the team’s issues against right-handed pitching. The Cubs as a whole entered Tuesday with a .694 OPS against righties, compared to .763 facing lefties.
Before his knee injury, Bellinger made an impressive turnaround from his last three seasons with the Dodgers. Injuries, and the mechanical issues that came from compensating for those injuries likely played a part in his decline after his MVP year. But after a healthy offseason and change of scenery, he was hitting .271 with seven home runs and 20 RBI.
“It’s definitely frustrating,” Bellinger said last week. “But once I come back, I’m still pretty confident that I’m going to be where I was.”
Ross wouldn’t estimate how many rehab games Bellinger will need, saying the team will lean on feedback from him.
This early in the year especially, the team takes a cautious approach to injuries – and whatever kept Suzuki out for two games.
Suzuki didn’t provide any more clarity Tuesday.
“If it’s not too serious, then I don’t want to make anything a big deal,” Suzuki said through interpreter Toy Matsushita.
Suzuki was just coming out of a skid, going 5-for-7 with a pair of doubles in the series final against the Angels and series opener against the Giants, when he was hit with his anonymous ailment.
“I’m glad I was able to get back as soon as possible,” he said.
