BALTIMORE – After leaving Thursday’s game late with cramping in his calf, Seiya Suzuki had big plans.
“I’m going to go eat about 100 bananas,” the Cubs right fielder said through an interpreter.
Surely, the Cubs – who aren’t worried about the cramping, by the way – hope the power of potassium keeps Suzuki in the same zone he found himself in the last couple days in Maryland, where he broke free of a mini slump that saw him go hitless in four straight games.
He smacked a three-run homer in Wednesday’s win and just about delivered another victory single-handedly Thursday, driving in both Cubs runs with a solo homer and an RBI double before the bullpen coughed up the lead in the eighth inning of a 3-2 loss.
“The last series in Chicago, at home, I couldn’t hit. I had a lot of frustration built up,” Suzuki said. “So really, I was taking that frustration out on the ball.”
But it’s not just Suzuki striking fear into the hearts of baseballs.
The Cubs have shown off plenty of impressive batwork of late, highlighted, of course, by that monster offensive series against the Padres on the most recent home stand.
Taking their show on the road to Baltimore this week, things weren’t quite as thunderous, but it was still apparent – with 16 runs and six homers in a three-game series win – that these Cubs are built to do damage to opposing pitchers in a way that could see them achieve their championship-level goals.
“It’s a reassuring lineup,” Suzuki said. “The guys in front of me get on base. The guys behind me, they’re great hitters. If I’m on base, they’ll drive me in.
“Simply put, you look at 1 through 9 in the lineup, there are very good hitters.”
For a portion of the season, it looked as if center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong might have needed to shoulder the offensive load by himself, something he acknowledged wasn’t possible in a team sport, no matter how ridiculous his numbers were.
Those numbers, by the way, are still ridiculous. He walked, doubled and scored Thursday, improving his season OPS to .930.
“I feel like every time he’s at the plate, he’s getting on first base or hitting a home run or hitting for the cycle,” first baseman Michael Busch said Thursday. “Honestly, it’s pretty crazy.
“This game is very difficult, especially in the box. To be able to do that at a high clip is pretty amazing, while also playing some of the best defense in the world. It’s pretty impressive.”
But a “one-man wrecking crew,” as Crow-Armstrong put it, doesn’t equal a championship-caliber lineup.
This Cubs one, though? When there are multiple guys clicking simultaneously? It sure looks like it is, well past the extended outage from early in the summer.
“The key to our offense is it doesn’t have to be the same guy [every game],” manager Craig Counsell said after the game. “We have guys that can do it, kind of carry the load on certain days, and that’s a good sign.”
Even though Thursday’s two-run output wasn’t enough, the Cubs lineup you’re seeing now, that’s what’s expected from this group. Throughout that stretch, Cubs hitters expressed confidence the worm would turn. That’s what happened.
Coming into Thursday, the Cubs had the highest on-base percentage in baseball since June 11, at .355. They ranked second in baseball during that span with 161 runs scored and third with 41 home runs. Their team wRC-plus of 130 was the sport’s best.
This team can get on base. This team can keep the line moving. This team can hit the ball out of the ballpark.
Not a bad way to chase a trophy.
“We’ve been able to prove that and show it over the years,” Busch said. “Hitting comes in waves, at times. The better the players you have in the box, those waves are a little smaller. We had a little bit of a tough stretch in May and June.
“Just watching some of the guys compete, top to bottom, guys coming off the bench, we have a bunch of really good hitters.”