Grote: Joe Maddon's Batting Order Keeps Cubs On Their Toes

By Mark Grote--

(CBS) The first stop for any member of the media when walking into a Major League Baseball clubhouse is typically to the area where the lineup card is posted. It's a rudimentary move executed to make sure there's nothing out of order. We watch for tweaks.

In the Cubs clubhouse, we look for the daily splash. Muscle-bound Jorge Soler leading off? Check. Singles hitter Chris Coghlan hitting clean up? Sure, why not. Addison Rusell hitting ninth, below the pitcher? Just about every day for manager Joe Maddon.

"The only stigma attached to that is the fat little kid that used to play right field and hit ninth on the playground," Maddon said recently.

"Part of the whole game plan in my mind's eyes by hitting him ninth is twofold – to be a second lead-off hitter with less pressure on you, and two, the potential to see better pitches. That's where people are failing to think this all the way through."

It's also pretty clear that Maddon isn't ready to put the added pressure on the 21-year old Russell by hitting him in a more traditionally prominent spot in the order. To help back Maddon's madness, Russell has already had a 12-game hitting streak.

"I had no idea," a sincere Maddon said.

There have also been no kid gloves for Kris Bryant, who was the clean-up hitter in his Cubs debut and has bounced about all the fun spots in the order.

"You definitely have to make sure you know where you are hitting," Bryant said with mild laughter. "I don't mind hitting second, fourth, fifth or anywhere in the lineup as long as I'm in there playing and helping the team win."

That's the correct answer, especially for a rookie. None of the players who I've spoken to have diverted from that refrain, but baseball players are creatures of habit, making it fair to wonder if it can sometimes be a source of stress when they see those splashes.

"The batting order is a circular situation," Maddon said. "It's not the Columbus batting order that falls off the face of the earth. This thing keeps coming around and around and around."

Where she stops nobody knows.

Mark Grote is the Cubs pregame and postgame host on WBBM. Follow him on Twitter @markgrotesports.