Happy Addison Russell Day Part 2: Last Night's Recap and Scouting Report

First order of business before we talk Addison: we notched a really impressive win against the Pirates last night 5-2 and I want to talk about it. It’s impressive for a few reasons:

1. We lost a bad one Sunday to the Padres that would’ve given us 3 straight series victories. Making matters worse, our #1 lost to former Cub, Andrew Cashner in what turned out to be an ugly game, so bouncing back and winning the first game of the next series is obviously a big swing.

2. Arrieta gave up 1 run early on 3 hits in the bottom of the 1st. He then proceeded to give up 1 hit over the next 6 scoreless innings while striking out 7 and walking none. That’s the type of stuff Cy Young candidates do, and quite honestly he needs to be in that conversation right now. He’s pitched into the 7th inning or later in all 3 of his starts this season while surrendering an opposing WHIP of .87 and an opponents BA of .188. The guy can flat out pitch.

3. Big Cat mentioned this earlier but it bears repeating: the middle of the order last night roasted the Pirates. Soler, Rizzo and Bryant combined to see 43 pitches over 15 plate appearances, which is unsurprisingly consistent with the fact that we’re leading the majors in pitches per plate appearance. That’s a big Theo metric – mostly because it’s a good indicator of guys who have a fucking clue.

Finally, last night’s win was impressive because it didn’t include the #4 prospect in baseball, Addison Russell. It’s impressive that we were able to look that good without him in the lineup, and it’s even more impressive to think about where this team is headed now that he’s in the big leagues. So with that here’s what you need to know:

1. His name is Addison for chrissakes. Those of you unfamiliar with this, Wrigley is located at 1060 W. Addison. You literally can’t make this shit up.

2. He’s really young. In fact, he’s the youngest player in the National League behind Bryce Harper by 15 months.

3. He’s really polished. Scouts say he looks and plays like a veteran. That means things like how he takes pitches, pitch selection, holding runners up the middle, lead offs, using the whole field etc. Simply put, he garners monster applause for his savyness, which is typically reserved for much older experienced players.

4. He’s a very athletic hitter. The most athletic hitter I can think of is Derek Jeter. He could find ways to hit line drives against pitches that had no business getting hit much less barrelled up. Scouts have similar praise for Russell’s approach in that his swing may not be beautiful at times, but he consistently finds hard contact.

5. He’s also an aggressive, powerful shortstop. The comparisons I’ve read here are more closely tied to Barry Larkin. So for those of you keeping track at home, yes that’s a player comp to Jeter above and now Barry fucking Larkin here. And yes, I understand that’s bold words but hey such is the case when you’re talking about elite talent. In this case, Larkin’s power/speed combo is similar to what scouts see in Russell at this point. I don’t think Russell will ever steal bags like Larkin did as he won’t need to in this lineup, but there’s a good chance he hits for similar or more power. He’s a line drive hitter but still very young, so a lot of the power still has to develop from experience and all that shit. For now, expect a lot of doubles to left and right center, and just an overall remarkable amount of line drives.

6. Defensively he’s playing second because that’s where we need him right now. In the long run, he’s a shortstop. He got into great shape before the draft to prove he could play shortstop and prevent teams from moving him to third. The A’s told him to play short until he couldn’t any longer and now he’s being considered an above average big league defender. He’s smooth and athletic. He’s a bit oversized for the position and technically kind of thick, but it’s not the 3am slump buster kinda thick Starlin Castro has embraced. We’re talking good, nice athletic thick. Like maybe she’s a volleyball player kinda thick.

7. The fact that he was repeatedly encouraged (or discouraged?) as a younger player to move to 3rd base yet is now considered an above average major league shortstop is enough to get an idea about this kid’s character. Oh you think I’m too fat? Too slow to play here? Okay hold on let me lose 20 pounds before spring training and then show you guys that I mean fucking business. That attitude wins pennants.

8. My guess is he hits down in the order for the next month or so. After that it could be 2nd or 6th from here on out, but really it doesn’t matter. We honestly have a top lineup in the NL. It’s so good. Like seriously so, so good. Soler is looking more like an everyday 3 hitter. Rizzo is posting a .463 OBP. Kris Bryant is a cyborg. And 3-time all star Starlin Castro lurks somewhere in between the starting pitcher and whatever catcher we have that perfectly matches up with the other team’s pitcher. That’s some really creamy peanut butter.

9. So yes, this kid is very good, and we will be much better with him in our lineup.

10. Now cue whatever the fuck we did in 1908 after we won the world series

@barstoolcarl