This Cub is performing better at the plate

This story was excerpted from Jordan Bastian’s Cubs Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

There are often indicators within a plate appearance that signal a batter is finding that sought-after combination of timing and pitch recognition. When those elements align, good results usually follow.

In the first inning of the Cubs’ Tuesday tilt against the Cardinals, manager David Ross spotted such a sign as Seiya Suzuki faced Jack Flaherty. Suzuki whiffed at a first-pitch slider but then worked a walk, taking another pair of sliders that tailed low and outside to earn the trot to first base.

“[It looked like] a sign of him starting to settle into just having his at-bat,” Ross said, “and not trying to come through and be the guy that puts all the pressure on himself to get the big hit.”

Suzuki drew two walks in that game and came a few feet short of a grand slam at Wrigley Field. In the four games that have followed, the Cubs right fielder has collected an extra-base hit in each contest. That included a home run in Sunday’s loss in Minnesota, ending a month-long power outage for Suzuki.

The blast was Suzuki’s first since April 14, which was his first game off the injured list after a bout with a left oblique setback that flared in Spring Training. The outfielder went 110 plate appearances between blasts, while experiencing the ups and downs of a hitter trying to find his timing after missing the entire Cactus League slate.

Suzuki rejoined the Cubs after 15 plate appearances with Triple-A Iowa, plus a rapid progression through live batting practice and extended spring games in Arizona.

“Most of these guys get 60 at-bats in Spring Training,” Ross said. “He didn't get those. And so, [he’s] finding that timing, which was a thing last year. And when he finds it …”

When Suzuki finds it, he can rip a line drive out into the left-field seats at 108.8 mph like he did Sunday afternoon. That was his fifth-hardest hit ball of the season. First on that list was a 112.2 mph sacrifice fly on Friday against the Twins. Suzuki’s past week has seen him looking more and more like the hitter Chicago expects.

Some of that is timing -- and Suzuki has been toying around with different leg-kick variations a month in -- and part of the equation is also adjusting to how teams have approached him so far.

Per Statcast, pitchers were featuring fastballs (all types) 53.4% of the time against Suzuki -- down from 58.0% last year. Breaking balls (curve and slider variations) were coming in at a 34.6% rate, compared to 32.5% in ’22. Suzuki was seeing 12.0% offspeed offerings (changeups, splitters, etc.) -- up from 9.5% last year.

“It's hard to evaluate at this point anyway with anybody,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said last week. “And he missed Spring Training. So that said, certainly, hopefully, he'll make some adjustments here and get going.”

Looking at Suzuki’s season to date in seven-game slices gives a glimpse into how he has attacked and adjusted:

Games 1-7: .370/.485/.519, 18.2 BB%, 30.3 K%
Games 8-14: .143/.172/.179, 0.0 BB%, 20.7 K%
Games 15-21: .269/.321/.385, 7.1 BB%, 17.9 K%
Games 22-28: .300/.423/.600, 19.2 BB%, 19.2 K%

“He’s starting to get that timing and recognize [pitches],” Ross said. “That told me that it feels like it's coming a little bit.”