Manager Joe Maddon believes the Cubs are as good as any team in the National League, but they might be without the services of valuable infielder Javier Baez for at least Monday night’s series opener against the defending NL champion Dodgers.
Initial tests revealed Baez, who leads the Cubs with 14 home runs, suffered a bruised left elbow after getting drilled by a pitch from rookie starter Jack Flaherty in the third inning of the Cubs’ 5-0 loss to the Cardinals on Sunday night. Baez left the game immediately.
“I’m fine, just really sore,” said Baez, who hopes he won’t need X-rays. “It got me really good right on the elbow. I thought the pain was going to go right way, but it numbed my whole arm and even my ribs.”
After icing and other treatments, Baez didn’t rule out the possibility of playing Monday night.
“It’s actually feeling pretty good,” Baez said.
Although Baez is hitting .175 (7-for-40) in June, he arguably has been the Cubs’ most valuable player this season because of his power, fielding prowess and versatility.
The Cubs were held to four hits by the Cardinals as they missed an opportunity for their first series sweep at Busch Stadium since 2010.
Jose Quintana held the Cardinals scoreless until the sixth when he allowed two singles. Anthony Bass took over for Quintana and induced Marcell Ozuna to hit a grounder to deep short, where Addison Russell — Baez’s replacement at shortstop — elected to throw to first base instead of getting a force play at third.
Russell’s throw was low, and Ozuna was credited with a hit. Yadier Molina’s double-play grounder scored Harrison Bader from third, and Jedd Gyorko followed with a single to score Tommy Pham.
Maddon defended his decision to use Bass over Steve Cishek, adding that the damage would have been limited had Russell thrown to third.
The Dodgers, meanwhile, present a different challenge than the NL Central rival Brewers and Cardinals. Despite placing 11 players on the DL, the Dodgers have won 21 of their last 27 games, including 11 of their last 14.
In winning the 2017 NL Championship Series, the Dodgers struck out 53 Cubs batters in 44 innings, relying heavily on high fastballs that the Cubs frequently chased.
“What we’ve done better is the guys not chasing that pitch,” Maddon said. “(Saturday night), we had a couple pitches called against us that were balls. You’re getting guys who are trying not to do that, and then you do the right thing and it’s called a strike. That’s my only concern.
“I don’t want our guys necessarily changing the way they hit because it’s hard to go from a low-ball hitter to a high-ball hitter. But to understand how to not swing at that pitch or fight it off with two strikes, that would be the main point.”
The Cubs haven’t made any major acquisitions of position players since the NLCS, but Jason Heyward believes he’s a different hitter than he was last October, when he went 0-for-5 in the NLCS.
“I’m better equipped to be able to cover the whole plate more often,” said Heyward, who was batting .354 in his last 15 games before going 0-for-3 on Sunday.
Twitter @MDGonzales
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