If you just looked at batting average, you might wonder why South Bend Cubs manager Buddy Bailey keeps penciling freshly-minted 22-year-old DJ Artis into the leadoff spot for the South Bend Cubs. Though he’s up to .257 as of post time, his average was 30 points lower less than a week ago. But Artis is an on-base machine with a .449 OBP and a 147 wRC+ that says he’s 47% better than average a producing runs.
As such, the left-handed hitting outfielder has been a spark plug at the top of South Bend’s lineup to begin the 2019 campaign.