MILWAUKEE – Joe Maddon doesn’t believe the baseball world is flat, so the Cubs manager will keep batting Addison Russell ninth.
Russell woke up on Sunday with a 12-game hitting streak within the first 16 games of his big-league career, getting more and more comfortable at this level and showing the natural talent that made him Baseball America’s No. 3 prospect heading into this season.
“This is a young player we’re trying to break in right now,” Maddon said at Miller Park. “I’m trying to optimize his opportunities. And I think by him hitting ninth, the only stigma attached to that is the fat little kid that used to play right field and hit ninth on the playground.