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Levine: Hitting Concepts Key To Cubs' Early Success

By Bruce Levine--

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Plenty of early season runs have been the by-product of the great at-bats the Chicago Cubs have put together in the first seven games of the year. A .372 on-base percentage by the Cubs has been driven by 38 walks, which leads the National League.

The Cubs have averaged a shade under seven runs a game. That walk pace won't be sustainable. What will be realistic for this group of hitters is continued good at-bats. Nobody emphasizes long at-bats better than this group of Cubs players.

"Many teams want to breed that," manager Joe Maddon said about the contagious aspect to watching good at-bats. "That is difficult to do. You can have trouble trying to teach guys to walk. For me, it might be easier to someone to not strike out rather than learn how to walk. If you like the idea of a guy taking a walk, you can draft it or buy it. It is really hard to nurture. Addison (Russell) is one who is trying to adapt this kind of method. I believe the guys hitting in front of him, like big brothers, are helping with that approach."

After setting a team franchise strikeout record and leading the league in that category in 2015, these Cubs rank in the middle of the pack in the NL at 8.2 average strikeout per game. What's different about this group may be as easy as pointing to the additions of Jason Heyward and Ben Zobrist, who hit near the top of the order and each have .355-plus career on-base percentages.

The Cubs' mantra in adding offense over the last few years has been about finding high on-base percentage men and left-handed contact and power hitters. That was the way president of baseball operations Theo Epstein built his world championship teams in Boston. The idea that staying within each at-bat as a separate entity must be learned by many young hitters.

"You try and take the good things out of each at-bat," said Russell, who hit the game-winning home run Monday. "If you hit a ball hard or you struck out on a good pitch, even if you take a walk. You learn that all of that matters. Every day I am learning to hone in my focus and concentrate on the task at hand."

The Cubs were no-hit into the seventh inning Monday evening, only to put up two in that frame and three in the eighth to win 5-3 against the Reds.

"No one really worried about that when we got down," starter Jon Lester said. "That was the atmosphere all night. No one got down, we had some good quality ABs throughout the night. Some of those at-bats didn't turn into hits, but everybody kept grinding. As the game went later and later, we had a lot of 3-2 and 2-2 counts. That is what this offense does."

Russell wasn't a high on-base percentage player in 2015, but at just 22, he feels that a quality at-bat can be something other than a walk.

"I am looking to trust the process I use," Russell said. "I certainly want to get a good pitch to hit early on. If you don't see that pitch, you have to fight to get a quality at-bat."

The concept of wearing down foes' pitching staffs is something this Chicago team is reveling in these days.

"The main thing I want to get out of an at-bat, whether I walk, strikeout or hit it hard, is to see the ball well," Russell said. "I know if I am seeing the ball well, it's going to be a pretty decent day up there at the plate. My first at-bat is key. You don't want to take a hack at the first pitch you see and it's not a very good pitch. You don't want to pop it up or end up rolling over it over. That doesn't help you much, if you waste an at bat with just seeing one pitch."

Russell likes the team element of working at-bats, but he knows putting nine clones in a lineup makes little sense. Each player's strengths are different, and they individually need to find what works best for them.

"I definitely want to take my walks," Russell said. "When things aren't going good in approach, you definitely want to see the ball. Taking a walk or helping other guys see pitches are a part of it."

Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score and CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.

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