Javier Baez In, Addison Russell Out at Shortstop in NLCS
By Bill Pivetz
The Chicago Cubs will be dealing with a bit of a handicap as they get ready for an NLCS against the New York Mets. The team will be without its power-hitting shortstop for at least this series. In the third game of the NLDS, Addison Russell strained his left hamstring while trying to stretch out a double. Luckily the Cubs have a deep roster and will rely on Javier Baez to take over at shortstop.
Russell, like the rest of the Cubs’ offense, was great this season. He played in 142 games with 115 hits, 13 home runs, 54 RBI and a .242 batting average. While it doesn’t count for most fantasy leagues, he was also an excellent defender. Of the seven Cubs players that played in at least 100 games, he finished fifth in fielding percentage, .978. The Cubs are going to miss that more than his offense.
Javier Baez is no slouch at the plate. He hit 37 home runs, 111 RBI in 2013 between High-A and Double A. The following year with the Triple-A Iowa Cubs, he hit 23 home runs and 80 RBI.
Baez joined the Cubs on Sept. 1 when rosters expanded. From then until the end of the regular season, he hit .289 with one home run, four RBI, 24 strikeouts and four walks.
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The Cubs have enough power from Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant and Kyle Schwarber that Baez doesn’t need to be that guy. They just need him to get some hits, score runs and play good defense. The latter is the biggest concern for management. In 23 games this season, he had a .974 fielding percentage.
The Cubs have Starlin Castro playing second base, but could move him to shortstop late if the situations calls for it.
While season-long fantasy leagues are over, daily leagues are still going strong. Javier Baez is the cheapest starting shortstop on DraftKings at $2,000. Buying on Baez will give you a few extra dollars to spend somewhere else.
These seven games will be important to Cubs’ management and fantasy owners alike to see what Chicago has in Javier Baez entering the 2016 season.