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When spring training began in February in Mesa, Arizona, Albert Almora told Anthony Rizzo that he was considered for the Cubs' head place
"I thought to myself, & ## Hey, I could start this year, you've got to learn, "said Almora, who said," I'm the best lead hitter in the world. "
"
"The Best all-time hitter "was the Rizzo scorer hung on his own in June 2017 after first round in his first two games at this location.He grew to like the role, even if it ended after 14 games.Rizzo came back to life in the three holes, and the world is back to normal, at least baseball-base.
But Monday, the world has turned backwards as Rizzo added to his repertoire, in relief for the first time in his career and retired AJ Pollock on the fly in the center in the loss of 7- 1 of the Cubs to the Diamondbacks at Wrigley Field.
What's next? Catching?
"No, no, that's all," says Rizzo. "Just continue to be a better hitter, focus my attention on hitting and defending."
After catcher Victor Caratini threw in the eighth, Rizzo ran into the clubhouse and jokingly told reporter Kelly Crull that he would leave if manager Joe Maddon let him go to the ninth. Madonna said Friday that Rizzo had been harbading him for throwing it for a moment, and Monday he finally gave in.
"He knew I was just giving him an eye," Rizzo said. "When he came out, I just told him," Joe, I promise not to blow. ""
Unfortunately, Rizzo did not receive the ball, what he said Javier Baez threw in the stands.
Now that the item in the list has been filled He returns to first place for Rizzo.
When Maddon began auditioning lead men this spring in Arizona, Rizzo insisted that he was not going to put his hat in the ring, despite Hitting five homers and totaling 1,053 OPS in 50 battles at the attack in 2017. The "greatest of all time" was resting on his laurels.
"I'm not a hitter in attack", a- he said. "I'm a first baseman."
But we were Monday in the 99 game of the 2018 season, and Rizzo was back in his now familiar place, chasing an endless saga in sight. On the eve of Monday's loss, where he earned a 1-for-4 record, Rizzo was .516 in the lead and had a .658 base percentage on the current camp.Her slash line during his first 23 starts in career was .378 / .471 / .732 with a 1.202 OPS
Clearly Rizzo was built for work, even at 6 feet 3 and 240 Madison even began calling Rizzo "Rickey" in honor of Rickey Henderson, considered the best all-time hitter with a .401 OBP, 2,244 points and 1,384 stolen goals. So Rizzo must have a way to catch it …
But all good things have an end … Maddon said before Monday's game that he was finally going to bring Rizzo back to where it belongs, which basically means hole # 3.
"I think," says Maddon "Just for now, it's hard to do that, we score a lot of runs, (and) it's provided a lot of energy at the top of the batting order.He likes that.And Javy (Baez) did it well, it is difficult to get away from that. "[19659002MondaywastheninthstraightgamethatRizzohasledsinceMaddonmadethetriponJuly13inSanDiegoWhenRizzoscoopeda0-in-21slumpwiththreehitsina5-4winoverthePadresMaddondecidedtolethimgoup
Rizzo was so eager to bat, he almost beat the other one "
" He will tell you that he is the greatest of all time, and he still longs for the # To be, "said Maddon. "But he's definitely ready for it in combat."
Maddon tried eight batters in first place this year, including Kris Bryant (seven games), Baez (two) and Willson Contreras (one). Rizzo has been the most productive, although Almora is a much better choice against left-handed
Would it be such a bad idea to leave Rizzo the rest of the year?
Probably. As amusing as it may seem to see Rizzo claim to be the best hitter of all time, we know that there is a small sample and it is doubtful that he could maintain it for a whole season. The idea was to get him out of his crisis, and Maddon did it.
"There is no anxiety," says Maddon about Rizzo's behavior. "I'm doing that, so I'm ready to hit."
"I really believe one thing in the hole all of a sudden, it tries to be on the base. He definitely thinks that he has to be a table breaker. His battles were very patient and he uses the whole field. So when we bring it back, I think there are a lot of benefits to it that it is doing right now. "
Rizzo said that he likes to be in the starting point and does not know when that will end."
"All Joe thinks is the best," he said. "I want to leave as much as I can for the guys, and I usually find guys in bigger situations, keep driving with them, and whatever happens, happens." … it's an at-bat and it seems to work, so we're going to get it out. "
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