Seiya Suzuki was a man of few words late Saturday when asked if he ever had experienced anything like playing in the unseasonably cold conditions at Wrigley Field.
“No, never have,” Suzuki said through an interpreter.
True enough, but naturally it’s expected to warm up this week while the Cubs are out of town.
It has been that kind of stretch for the Cubs, who scratched Marcus Stroman from Sunday night’s start against the Los Angeles Dodgers and placed him on the injured list for undisclosed reasons, suggesting a COVID-19-related stint. Justin Steele was moved up from Monday’s start, and Adrian Sampson was called up from Triple-A Iowa.
Suzuki is getting a valuable lesson on life as a Cub. When Chairman Tom Ricketts and President Jed Hoyer courted the Japanese star with a virtual reality presentation of what it would be like to play at Wrigley, they probably left out the cold, rainy and windy days we had last week and most of April.
Suzuki got off to a hot start and was named National League Rookie of the Month for April, but his first prolonged slump has coincided with the Cubs’ recent regression.
When the Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 21-0 with 23 hits on a summerlike day at Wrigley on April 23, all was well in Wrigleyville. In 12 games since — including Sunday’s 7-1 loss to the Dodgers — the Cubs have hit .178 and scored a combined 22 runs while going 2-10 to fall nine games behind the first-place Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central.
Suzuki is batting .128 (6 for 47) with no home runs and two RBIs over that stretch with 17 strikeouts and only three walks. He’s not the sole reason the Cubs have fallen into the abyss — the rest of the lineup has been inconsistent, and Frank Schwindel was demoted to Iowa on Sunday after his poor start. Cubs starting pitchers, meanwhile, ranked 27th entering Sunday with a 5.30 ERA, making them culprits as well.
But the Cubs have made Suzuki the centerpiece of their new-look team, as his five-year, $85 million deal suggests.
“It’s a team sport, and even though individually you’re doing well, it doesn’t really help the team and you can’t get a win by yourself,” Suzuki said. “It’s all about staying together as a team and that’s what we’ve been doing these past couple weeks.
“I’m just getting unlucky and I think the most important thing is staying consistent and keep on working as a team.”
After the Cubs were swept by the Dodgers in a doubleheader Saturday, walking nine batters in the nightcap, catcher Willson Contreras admitted “it’s really tough to even watch, to be honest.”
Sunday’s loss was their 14th in 17 games and dropped them to 4-11 at home.
“Losing sucks, I’ll tell you that,” Contreras said. ”That’s all I can say.”
After Contreras hit a fifth-inning home run in Game 2 of the doubleheader to pull the Cubs to within two, he waved his arms wildly after crossing home plate, seemingly exhorting the fans to get loud. But he said afterward his gesture was aimed at his teammates, not fans.
“I’m trying to lift this team up,” he said. “I’m trying to do my best to pass my energy to everybody. That’s just me. I’m trying to support my team.
“I know it’s been a really tough stretch, but as I told Nico (Hoerner) earlier, a lot of time we focus so much on results that we end up frustrated instead of enjoying the moment, enjoying just playing baseball. Then the results are going to happen.
“As a human, you fall into (a trap of) wanting the results right away. A lot of times, baseball doesn’t work that way.”
It won’t get any easier for the Cubs as they embark Monday on a six-game trip to San Diego and Arizona. The Padres are neck-and-neck with the first-place Dodgers in the NL West — the game’s strongest division — and the rebuilding Diamondbacks have rebounded from a 6-11 start to get back over .500 at 15-14.
Manager David Ross needed Steele to show durability after lasting three or fewer innings in his previous three starts. He made it through four innings Sunday, allowing two runs on three hits, but exited before the fifth with a sore left thumb.
Ross employed veteran Daniel Norris as an opener in Saturday’s nightcap and watched him implode with three straight walks before yanking him after only seven batters.
Keegan Thompson appears to be Ross’ best bet for joining the rotation down the road, but Thompson still is learning on the job. He walked three in 2⅓ innings in relief of Norris, forcing in a run, and gave up a three-run double to Mookie Betts. Thompson admitted he was “going too quick” and “the game got a little too fast” on him.
The Cubs were bound to go through some growing pains in 2022 after the sell-off of 2021, so fans will have to be patient with Steele, Thompson, Suzuki, Hoerner and the other young players who figure to still be around when they hope to turn the corner on the rebuild. There’s no doubt it will be “tough to watch” at times, as Contreras said.
But seeing how Ross and his team get past this stretch will be interesting to observe.
“Obviously we’re losing games and we’re not in a great situation right now, condition-wise,” Suzuki said. “But it’s a long season and it’s part of the season, so we just want to get over it.”
