David Bote wore sunglasses, gold chains, a floral T-shirt, tight white jeans and a tan hat tilted to the side as he walked across the Wrigley Field clubhouse. Bote did an exaggerated strut, impersonating Pedro Strop as the Cubs got ready for a themed road trip to Kansas City that became a tribute to the popular relief pitcher.
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Bote had notched two more hits on Sunday afternoon to raise his batting average to .328, taking advantage of this opportunity while All-Star third baseman Kris Bryant rests his sore left shoulder. Bote also made a rare rookie mistake, getting picked off second base in the sixth inning of a 10-6 loss to the San Diego Padres. It’s only been 28 games – and the Cubs will need their MVP – but Bote’s certainly acted like he belongs here.
“Bote’s game has been so complete,” manager Joe Maddon said. “His prep is great – his demeanor, the slow heartbeat, everything about him. He’s got the respect of that entire room already.”
That combination of off-the-field maturity and on-field versatility reminds Maddon of a young Ben Zobrist, another self-made player who debuted during his age-25 season and earned respect for his unselfish attitude and baseball IQ. That experience with the 2006 Tampa Bay Devil Rays – a team that would lose 101 games during Maddon’s first season as manager – helped set up the career Zobrist never saw coming when he went undrafted out of Eureka High School in downstate Illinois.
This is what Zobrist sees in Bote right now as an immediate contributor to a World Series contender:
“He’s got a lot more confidence than I had at that age,” Zobrist said. “His ability to not let the moment bother him – that kind of stuff is pretty rare when you’re that young and coming up to a team like this. Right now, he’s more mature as a player in a lot of ways than I was at that age. It’s a tougher league than it was at that time as well. He’s taking it in stride and taken to the role. The role is one of the tougher things for young guys to embrace and he’s embraced the role.
“That’s part of the good thing about not being a (high-profile) prospect for your whole time through the minor leagues because you’re just grateful. You’re grateful for the opportunity. I sense that in him. He’s grateful and he’s eager for every chance he gets – and that’s a good place to be because your expectations aren’t too high to where you’re expecting yourself to do too much.
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“He’s just trying to do what he can do. It’s pretty impressive.”
The Cubs selected Bote in the 18th round of the 2012 draft out of Neosho County Community College in Kansas, the same year Albert Almora Jr. became the first player drafted by the Theo Epstein regime.
To get a sense of how hard Bote worked, how much talent this farm system used to warehouse and why the Cubs tried to market him at the July 31 trade deadline as an everyday player in the right situation, look at some of the guys he played with in the minors, beginning in the Arizona rookie league and stretching to affiliates from Boise to Kane County to South Bend to Daytona to Myrtle Beach to Tennessee to Iowa: Almora, Javier Báez, Jorge Soler, Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber, Gleyber Torres, Jeimer Candelario, Ian Happ, Victor Caratini and Willson Contreras.
“They’ve been helpful since I got here,” Bote said. “That’s the key, [how] the organization [puts things] in place to be yourself. The fact that you can be yourself, it’s a lot easier to gain respect because they know who I am – and I know who they are – and they know what they’re going to get from me every day.
“There’s no tiptoeing around. They’ve done an unbelievable job of welcoming me since April, and since spring training, too. It’s a great clubhouse. It’s fun to compete with these guys.”
Listen to how Báez – a human highlight reel – talks about Bote: “He’s a great athlete. He’s just here every day to learn something to get better.”
Bote – the son of a longtime high school coach who won multiple state titles in Colorado – hasn’t made a fielding error through 147 innings at third base (14 starts), second base and first base. ESPN recently quoted Bote about his frustrations with rain delays limiting his pregame work: “I love going out there and taking ground balls. It’s one of my favorite things to do.”
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“It’s simple, but it’s profound at the same time, because you got to love the little things,” Zobrist said when a reporter relayed Bote’s quote. “You got to embrace the stuff that’s not flashy and nobody cares about. And then when you’re on the field, it shows up. That’s where I think we both have a kindred spirit.”
Zobrist is still genuine, humble and hard-working, even after reinventing the super-utility position, helping the Royals win the 2015 World Series, signing a four-year, $56 million contract with the Cubs and becoming the 2016 World Series MVP.
Zobrist is now 37 years old and openly admits that hitting is harder than ever, pointing to the explosion of data and video analysis that dictates matchups and defensive shifts as well as the 100-mph relievers that have become standard issue. There is nowhere to hide when everything known about you as a hitter is only one click away on a laptop or an iPad.
Bote is a Cubs Way success story/launch-angle convert who’s posted a .927 OPS through his first 74 plate appearances in The Show, putting up five doubles, two homers, 11 RBIs and nine walks. The league will adjust, the inevitable slump is coming and the Cubs obviously want Bryant back in the middle of their lineup. But Zobrist has seen and heard enough to think Bote is the real deal.
“He asks good questions and he does his homework,” Zobrist said. “I never did that much homework when I was that age. There wasn’t that much information – [especially compared to] now – and he’s using it already. That bodes well down the road because you know he’s going to grow faster because he’s using the information to figure out how it works for him.”
(Top photo: Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/TNS via Getty Images)
